


waste your thoughts

by scrubtopia



Category: Cow Chop
Genre: Anal Sex, Body Worship, Dom/sub, Face-Sitting, Friends With Benefits, Intercrural Sex, M/M, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Porn with Feelings, Service Top, time for me to fumble my tags, top aleks i said, top aleks you said?, yall know what time it is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2018-12-17 05:50:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11845248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrubtopia/pseuds/scrubtopia
Summary: aleks is bad at relationshipsorbrett is not a grindr date and aleks is losing his god damn mind





	1. hard times

Tonight was absolute dogshit.

The guy was alright looking, he guessed. Looked just like the dude from last week, and Aleks wracked his brain at the time trying to figure out if they’d already hooked up. It was possible, at least. All the guys started to blur together after a while, and being a little high most of the time didn’t really help either.

Most nights weren’t this bad. Aleks knew his way around these apps by now. Chat a guy up for about half an hour to see if he was interested in hooking up, make sure he didn’t sound like a serial killer, and then that was it. They both would get their rocks off and part ways, it didn’t have to be complicated.

Things couldn’t always be that easy, though. The guy looked like a total douche, Aleks remembers that much. The douches were always the problem. As long as they kept their mouths shut, Aleks usually didn’t care. This guy, though? Would not stop talking. Even when Aleks started to blow him, the guy kept talking.

“Slut. You love this shit, huh? Shoulda known when I saw those DSLs.” Aleks probably heard him say the same fucking thing five times, in slightly different ways. At that point, Aleks was just trying to get the dude to finish. He didn’t, though. Aleks got stopped and the guy started pawing at him, still fucking talking.

“Wanna fuck you.” The douche’s breath was sour and thick in his face as he grabbed Aleks’ ass. “You got a cute little ass. I wanna break it in.”

That was it. Aleks left the guy with his dick hanging out and got out of his place as fast as he could. That lead him to where he was now, sitting in his car in the middle of the night, unsatisfied and entirely turned off. A part of him wanted to try again, throw out another hook and see what plan-b he could come up with at the last minute.

Maybe this hook up shit was beginning to become a problem. Aleks stared down at his phone for a minute before it buzzed in his hand. A new text message from… Brett. There was another idea. Earlier, Brett had invited him to hang out and Aleks blew him off for… that trashy hook up. He was beginning to regret that.

_having a fuckin blast gettin wasted while you sit at home like a little punk bitch_

Well. Brett was wrong about one thing, at least.

**Not at home.**

_come fuckin meet me then_

Well.

**Alright.**

_dope._

With the address in his phone, cheerful robotic voice telling him where to go, Aleks started driving. What could go wrong? 

* * *

 A… lot, apparently.

Or maybe Aleks is just overthinking it.

He shows up, he finds Brett (the loudest drunk at the place), he gets drunk. Spends half the party with a hand down one of Brett’s back pockets, sticking to him like glue. Nothing new, though. Aleks is an affectionate drunk.

Or it’s just Brett.

He lays his head on Brett’s shoulder, listening to him babble about his trip abroad. How boring. Aleks closes his eyes, taking drinks of his beer from muscle memory, pressing himself close to the older man. This was… nice. Better than earlier. Better than most of his shitty encounters, in all fairness, but still. He nosed against Brett’s neck, making a small, whiny noise.

“And like, you know, Aus- what? What do you want?” Brett asks, stopping mid-story to turn his head, chin bumping into Aleks’ hair, “I’m busy here.”

“Can we go somewhere else?”

Aleks can practically hear Brett thinking, the gears turning, the heavy sigh. “Later, boys,” and he’s steering them outside, onto the tiled balcony. Now that it’s gotten colder, not many people are out here, and Aleks gravitates himself (and because his hands still in Brett’s pocket, him as well), towards a bench off to the side. He only pulls away when they sit down, leaning back against the bench and taking another drink of his beer.

“Man, it was stuffy in there.”

“I was in the middle of a pretty sweet story.”

“Dude, they all watched the world cup.”

“I mean, traveling is cooler.”

“Traveling is cooler. Listening to someone talk about traveling isn’t.” Aleks corrects him. “You sound like a old retired guy, all you need is some… shitty pictures of you and the Eiffel tower.”

“I was _working_ in China and Australia, not France.”

Aleks shrugs and takes another sip of his beer. The silence stretched on for a moment, or… whatever counted as silence in LA, before Brett finally breaks it. “When I invited you out, you said you were gonna stay in for the night. What happened?” Brett looks at him with raised eyebrows and makes Aleks advert his gaze down to the beer in his hands. He should have seen that one coming.

“What, you jealous or something?”

“Nah, just nosey.” Brett says while grinning at him, making Aleks go for another drink and hope that Brett can’t see redness creeping onto his face. “You wouldn’t have lied unless you had something to hide. So, what’s up?”

Aleks knew he could just tell Brett to butt out of it. He’s more than a little drunk though, and… The memory of the skeevy dickhead is still fresh in Aleks’ head. “I was on a date.” Aleks finally decides on giving Brett half of the truth.

Of course, Brett puts on a show of getting closer and leaning into his space as if to gossip better. “Nice, except you’re here now. So… didn’t go well, huh?”

“She, uh…” Aleks wracks his brain, tries to find an excuse, “she smokes.”

Brett looks at him like he has ten heads, and Aleks knows his lie didn’t quite go over very smooth.

“Nice try.”

“Dude, why does it matter? I’m with you now. Shouldn’t you be so lucky?”

Brett grins, leaning back against the bench, legs crossed the ankle and hands behind his head as he looked at Aleks, brow raised. “Am I your new date?”

“Fuck off,” Aleks says, maybe too quickly, and Brett just laughs. He’s already lost, but he’s gonna try to go down fighting at least, “you’re nowhere near my type.”

“Says the dude whose hand has been against my ass all night.”

_Shit._

Aleks turns red, immediately embarrassed, and Brett laughs again, slings an arm around his neck and pulls Aleks in close, lets their foreheads touch as he flicked Aleks’ ear.

“Don’t get so upset. Cheer up a little, Aleksandr.”

“Stop fucking around so much and I might.”

“What if I’m not fucking around?”

There isn’t any laughing now. That shit eating smile is noticeably gone from Brett’s face, still smirking just a little but… he’s looking at Aleks while he just waits for a response. It hits Aleks way too late that Brett is flirting with him, on purpose.

“Well, uh… don’t hurt yourself thinking about it that hard.” He must take too long to answer, because Brett is starting to pull away with a hand rubbing at the back of his head. Brett only looks at him again because Aleks is moving before thinking, grabbing at the front of his tank top to pull Brett back towards him.

They both taste too much like cheap beer, but Aleks doesn’t really think about it when Brett’s beard is scraping against his chin while he kisses him. Brett’s quick to catch on, rising back up to meet him. Aleks curls his fingers a little tighter and pushes him back, feeling him press against the bench. 

“Shit, okay.” Brett breathes in the space between their lips. He kind of sounds like he’s laughing, just a little bit. His thigh is shoved up against Brett’s on the small bench before Brett moves, his leg swinging over Aleks’ and giving him more space to slide in closer. Reaching down, Aleks holds onto the back of Brett’s thigh, thinks about the tight denim stretched over them and captures Brett’s lips again.

Feels… fucking fantastic, kissing Brett, like he’s never kissed anyone before now. Maybe it helps that Brett wants him, too, and isn’t just a random from Grindr that wants to touch dicks for ten minutes. Aleks pulls away again, mostly because Brett’s hand has curled around his own thigh and has squeezed, hard, and is moving up, and they’re still kind of in public at this stupid ass party. But Brett’s kissing down to his jaw, along the bone and to his neck, and his hand is so close to his chub, and Aleks doesn’t necessarily want to stop, but they’re in fucking _public_.

“Brett. Brett? Brett, asshole, listen to me,” Aleks pushes insistent against Brett’s thigh before giving it a half-hearted punch, making Brett pause in his assault, tilting his head up to look at Aleks, “asshole, we’re in public.”

“Oh, right.”

“That’s all you have to say? ‘Oh, right’?” Aleks pushes at Brett’s face, scooting a bit away, though with slight reluctance, scrubbing a hand over his face, “dude, come on.”

“We can leave,” Brett shrugs, already pulling away and standing, rubbing the back of his head, “your place or mine?”

He asks it so casual that Aleks just stares and squints and Brett laughs, giving a shrug.

“Hey, you said not on the balcony.”

He did. Aleks finally got to his feet, trying to push his shirt down in attempts to hide what Brett’s already managed to do to him, and decides to shove his hand down into the other’s back pocket, hiding himself close again.

“You’re something,” Brett responds but doesn’t pull away, just slinging an arm around Aleks’ neck and dragging him back through the party, shouting goodbyes here and there before they leave, and Brett looks at Aleks’ car, then his own, then back at Aleks.

“You drive.”

“What? I still drank, and my car’s more expensive. I hate your shitty square car. You drive.”

“Well, I guess,” Brett sighs, dramatic, and places a hand to his chest, “but you really hurt her feelings. She’s a sensitive girl. You better apologize to her.”

Aleks opens his mouth to tell Brett to fuck off, but decides instead to pinch his ass in the cramped pocket, and Brett laughs, swatting at his face.

“Ok, fuck, c’mon,” And Brett steers them to his car, pulling away from Aleks to unlock it and climb inside. The decision is… mildly regrettable, though, on Aleks’ part. He’ll have to find a fucking ride back here, hope someone doesn’t try to steal his cammy. Damn. Maybe he should have drove. He can’t even protest, because Brett’s only half looking as he’s pulling out of the lot and taking off, can only watch sadly as the car vanishes slowly as they drive away. Aw, hell.

There’s a tension in the car that Aleks has to focus on instead, a sudden weight between them both. The night’s gonna go somewhere, and Aleks isn’t sure where yet, but it’s gotta be a hell of a lot better than what his last couple of months have been with dumbass men he chats up for a couple minutes on an app. He tries hard not to make it seem like he’s staring, but Brett looks good, and the red light they’re stopped at lets Brett look back at him, and Aleks doesn’t know where the lump in his throat came from, and can’t quite handle the fact that Brett just _smiles_  at him before taking the left turn as the light turns green, and looks away out the window so fast he’s surprised he doesn’t get whiplash. Fuck. This is… suddenly very, very real.

Time speeds up instead of slows down, and they’re at Brett’s place a lot quicker than he expects. Car’s pulled neat and nice into a spot, parked and Brett’s climbing out, and Aleks remembers, even though he’s having a crisis, he still has to act like a normal damn person. Climbs out of his seat, closes the door, stares at Brett, who just tilts his head, taking his baseball cap off, tucking it under his arm.

“You ok? Should I have brought you home?”

“No,” Aleks is a little quick to say, even if his mouth feels dry, “no, sorry, I’m just thinking.”

It’s not a lie, but it’s not the full truth, and Brett just shrugs. “C’mon. You should get some sleep.”

Sleep. Aleks just nods, a little stiff, follows Brett up to his apartment and closes the door behind him, leaving his sneakers at the door like a good guest, right next to the boots Brett has minor trouble kicking off but manages. They don’t say anything as Aleks runs on almost autopilot, moving to lay down on Brett’s couch, covering his face with a hand.

“You… sure you’re ok?” Brett’s voice is coming from a nebulous area above him, “you’re not sick or anything, right? I’m not gonna clean your vomit up.”

“Dude, I’m fucking fine,” Aleks lowers his hand, glaring up at Brett for a moment.

“Nothing says ‘I’m fine’ like being aggressively defensive.” Brett flatly quips at him, and it earns him an even narrower look from Aleks. Brett raises his hands in his own defense. “Look, I’ll grab you a blanket. Just stay there and try not to puke on my couch.”

With that, Brett leaves. Aleks looks at the ceiling and rubs at his forehead. He’s really not drunk enough to be sick, but for some reason, he kind of is. That’s not alcohol poisoning, though, that’s anxiety. Following Brett home seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that Aleks is here, he’s kind of at a loss for what to do.

Brett’s not a stranger from a hookup app, he’s… Brett. Brett, who he has to see next Monday at work no matter what happens tonight. Aleks fights back another lump in the middle of his throat.

When Brett walks back into his living room, Aleks is sitting up with his arm stretched out across the back of the couch. He stops, and they look at each other for a moment before Brett holds out a black and white knitted looking blanket.

“What _is_ that?”

“It’s… an afghan?” Brett supplies, eyebrow raised like Aleks should just know that. He takes it anyway and clears his throat, giving the back of the couch a little pat.

“Cool. Uh, come… sit down. We can share.” Aleks considers that pretty smooth, even if Brett looks even more confused before he complies. Taking the ‘afghan,’ Aleks throws it over them and then stretches his arm back along the couch. Brett’s watching him the entire time, and Aleks hesitantly meets his gaze.

“You feel better?”

“Yeah, it was just.... Gas.”

“What?” Brett laughs, quickly pushing his elbow against Aleks’ side. “Way to make me regret getting underneath this blanket with you.” Despite struggling, Brett manages to end up closer to Aleks and leans into him, letting his arm finally slide around his neck. “So, really. You’re okay?”

Aleks is so tired of telling Brett he’s alright. Instead, he cups the back of his neck and hauls Brett over for a kiss. That works well enough to shut him up, for now. They pick up easily where they left off on that balcony. He manages to knock Brett’s stupid baseball cap off and sink his fingers into the back of his hair, where it’s long and curling on the nape of his neck.

He ends up pressed into the couch, Brett straddling his lap. With the size difference, Aleks is almost a little nervous, but Brett balances himself well enough that Aleks barley feels anything except the weight of his ass on his lap. No way he’s complaining about that. His hands find the back of Brett’s dark jeans again, and Aleks feels a chuckle against his mouth.

“You’ve had your hands there all night.” Brett breathe out. “I thought you were just fucking with me, you know? Playing grab ass like a kid.” There’s some shifting, and Aleks feels Brett rock in his lap. “You surprised me.”

“I'm full of surprises, dude.” Aleks gasps, head tilting back against the couch. Brett's a pretty picture sitting in his lap, even with that stupid Afghan pooled around his waist. In the dim light, Aleks can just make out Brett's grin.

“I was counting on that.” His hands slide down from Aleks’ shoulders, fingertips following the contour of his chest and stomach, earning a shiver from Aleks that starts all the way from the back of his neck. When Brett reaches the edge of his shirt and pulls it up, Aleks only lifts his arms to help get it over his head. He tries to reach for Brett too, but even in this small space he manages to lean back from Aleks. Brett’s still fucking grinning, and Aleks can’t tell if it’s still hot or starting to get annoying.

Brett makes a little show out of taking his own shirt off, taking his time with each button like they have all the fucking time in the world. Aleks is feeling the frustration, hands gripping at Brett’s thighs where they settled for the moment. After the buttons are undone, Brett lets the shirt slide smoothly off his his shoulders and, yeah, that’s hot.

“Come on,” Aleks says, even sounding a little whiny to himself. His hands slide up Brett’s thighs to grab onto his waist, lifting his hips up to try and get some friction through his too tight jeans. “No more foreplay, I’ve been half hard for like a fucking hour already.” Brett’s answer to that is to laugh again, and Aleks burns from frustration.

“Traffic wasn’t that bad.” Brett’s quip gets him a pinch on the hip, and he continues to laugh. The giggles turn breathy while Aleks keeps working his hips up against Brett’s ass. All he feels is denim rubbing on denim, and Aleks is ready to change that next. While leaning up to kiss Brett’s neck, he pulls at the front of his jeans and pops the button open on them, and other hands reach down to help Aleks as he tries to peel Brett out of his skinny jeans.

“Shit.”

Apparently, they’re both still too tipsy to take skinny jeans off. Brett tries to kick them off without breaking up the flow too bad, but when Aleks tries to help he just makes things even worse.

“No, dude. Come on, just lift your leg, and-”

“I’m lifting! Stop pulling, you’re gonna…”

The idea was that Aleks would move a little bit to help Brett out, but instead he knocks him off balance. His back hits the couch cushion and then a heavy weight lands square on his ribcage, making him cough. That’s Brett, full weight now bearing on top of him. He doesn’t look too pissed off, all things considered.

“...Okay. This works, I guess.” There’s some grumbling from Brett as he lifts some weight off of Aleks’ chest and kicks his jeans off the rest of the way. There’s that look Aleks usually gets when he’s just starting to get on Brett’s nerve, but he leans down the rest of the way to kiss Aleks again.

Now, when Aleks lays his hand on Brett’s ass it’s just thin cotton getting in the way, and that’s easily shoved out of the way. He can grab and pull their hips tight, grinding up against Brett more desperately. Fuck, he’s still wearing jeans. Aleks starts to groan before he feels hands at his belt, tugging and unclasping to get his pants off already. Some wiggling gets it done, and that first slide of skin against skin has Aleks keening, lips breaking from Brett as he throws his head back.

He’s turned on enough to grind himself against Brett’s stomach and get off that way, like he’s a fucking teenager again. It’s Brett who stops him, hand pushing down on his hip bone and making Aleks’ attention snap back to him. Brett’s moving for some reason, inching up higher and propping himself up on one hand, the other moving from his hip to his shaft. Brett’s legs spread open for a second, then he pushes Aleks’ hard on between them.

“I want you to fuck me,” Brett breathes out like an order, thighs suddenly squeezing down around Aleks and trapping his cock between them. He doesn’t get it, but the dark look in Brett’s eyes are convincing enough. Aleks holds onto Brett’s hips and grinds his hips up, sliding between his toned thighs. Shit. _Shit_. His head feels dizzy and Aleks blames it on the alcohol as he digs his hands a little into Brett’s skin, trying to find his rhythm. After a moment, he manages, but not without Brett’s thighs flexing around him, clearly trying to make his life hell right now.

He rocks and grinds his hips up, eyes lid as he watches himself between Brett’s thighs, body flushed and cheeks hot. Fuck… this was actually… really god damn hot. Maybe it helps in his favor that he’s doing it with Brett, though. He exhaled a shaky breath out, growing more bold, and using the fact Brett’s not paying close attention to flip them, pushing Brett down onto the couch and hovering over him, leaning down to kiss Brett with need, open mouthed and panting. Brett responds in the like and Aleks just melts, moaning into the kiss and thrusting between Brett’s thighs.

It’s intoxicating, holding Brett down and fucking him like this, but it quickly dawns on Aleks that even though he feels like he’s in control, he’s really not. Brett’s under him, one of his arms slung around Aleks’ shoulders, pulling him down even closer, biting against his mouth and breaking the kiss, legs around his waist and squeezing, tight, and Aleks whimpers against Brett’s jaw, head dropping as he gives Brett exactly what he wants, hand reaching up to curl around Brett’s arousal, thumb over the slick tip, make Brett shudder under him.

“Y-You’re… an asshole,” Aleks manages, his words coming out in heavy breaths against Brett’s skin. He hears a laugh underneath him in response, turns into a moan with a twist of his hand. A hot hand clasps at the back of his neck, blunt nails digging in as Brett shakes. Sliding his lips over Brett’s neck, Aleks feels the vibration in his throat when he cries out, cock twitching in his hand.

He feels dizzy when he comes, heat resonating all through his skin, trapped between him and Brett. Slowly, Brett sinks into the couch first, and Aleks drops on top of his chest without any grace at all. After the buzz dies off, the feeling of drying sweat starts to make Aleks feel sticky. Still, it’s Brett’s hand that ends up trying to gently roll him off. Aleks sinks bonelessly into the couch, just letting him free. His eyes droop for a moment, hand pushing back sweat slick hair. When he hears Brett again, there’s a hand on top of his head.

“Come on, I’m not falling asleep out here.” 

* * *

 Morning comes with a dull ache in his head and his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth. Aleks tries to swallow and groans at the taste, head flopping against his outstretched arm. The sun is definitely up, and Aleks is unfortunately awake. When he finally rolls over, he has to spend a second staring up at the ceiling before his breath comes out in an exhale.

He didn’t drink enough shitty beer to forget what happened last night, just enough to give him a nasty headache while he reminisced about it. Brett’s not even in bed when he wakes up and as weird as that feels, he’s kind of relieved to get a moment to contemplate his life decisions before he has to see him again.

A few minutes later, Aleks accepts that he has to drag himself out of Brett’s bed eventually. Bathroom is the first priority and finding something to cover up his ass is another. He dimly remembers taking pants off in the living room and it feels fucking weird, sneaking through Brett’s place for his briefs. Pulling them on, Aleks realizes he can hear Brett in another part of his place.

In the kitchen, Brett is already awake and standing in front of his stove. He looks alarmingly awake to Aleks, who still tastes stale beer in his mouth.

“Oh, hey.” He gets noticed by Brett just a second after he walks in and there’s a pause as Aleks is looked over. “You feel like eating? I’m making enough for two.” Aleks rubs his hand through his hair, staring distantly at the stove as he leans against the counter. “Okay, order up.”

The bowl that Brett slides across to him makes Aleks think of something he’d find in his toilet bowl after some of his worse hangovers more than anything he’d want to eat right now. That’s definitely an egg, and some grey looking slop that Aleks eventually realises is oatmeal. Eggs over oatmeal?

“Dude.” Aleks groans, pushing it back. He didn’t even feel that nauseous before he had to look at that. Brett is tearing into his own bowl, completely unphased. “That’s gross. How the hell aren’t you hungover right now?”

“Oh, no. I feel like hot garbage right now.” Brett smiles grimly with a thumbs up. Aleks wouldn’t have guessed it, Brett looks a hell of a lot better than he does right now, even though he was partying longer Aleks. He just didn’t get it. “Not eating isn’t gonna make it better.”

“Just looking is bad enough for me.” Aleks mumbles. “Is that seriously a fried egg on top of oatmeal? That’s just wrong.”

“You know not all oatmeal is sweet, right?” Brett asks, like he already knows that Aleks clearly doesn’t. Aleks lets out a weak little laugh. This is bizarre, he slept with Brett last night and now they’re bickering about breakfast. The situation is just surreal. To make it worse, Aleks remembers that his car is still parked outside of some stranger’s place. He lets out a weak, pathetic laugh.

“I gotta get back to my car. I just left it there.” Aleks croaks out, head in his hand. He doesn’t see Brett react, but there’s a notable pause after he speaks.

“I can give you a ride back there. I’m gonna head out to the gym.”

“Cool. I’m gonna make sure my dog didn’t tear up my house while I was out, and then I’m gonna pass the hell out again.”

“Truly pathetic.” Brett ribs at him, actually walking past him and bumping against Aleks with a little grin. Aleks pushes back, tries to play back at acting normal, but he’s just not up to it when everything is clearly not right now. Normal wasn’t going home with your friend on a rebound. Normal wasn’t standing around the morning after like it didn’t happen.

Despite Brett’s advice, Aleks skips out on the oatmeal and just wanders back into the living room to find the rest of his clothing. He’s pulling on a shirt when he hears Brett behind him, the rattle of him picking up his keys from the table.

“That’s mine.”

“What?” Aleks turns, shirt already halfway buttoned up. He squints at Brett, who is doing a really shitty job of hiding a grin.

“That’s my shirt.”

“Fuck off, it’s not.” Aleks looks down, spends a minute squinting at the navy button up before he realises, no, that actually isn’t his shirt. He definitely put on a t-shirt last night before he went out. Aleks exhales hard.

“It’s cool, it looks better on you anyway.” Brett sounds way too amused, and Aleks is starting to feel the uncomfortable prickle of real embarrassment. “A chick spilled her drink all over it last night, though. I wouldn’t wear that for long.”

Aleks sends him a withering look, already taking the navy shirt off and grabbing his own off the floor. It’s weird, but Brett actually looks… disappointed. Maybe that’s because Aleks is being a little bit of a dick. He pulls his shirt over his head, and after finding his shoes next they’re out the door.

Getting dropped off by his car is completely unceremonious. Brett makes some promise to talk to Aleks later, but it feels too much like one of his own lines he gives out after a one night stand. Except, Aleks knows they still have to see each other after all of this. Right now, he isn’t sure if that’s better or worse. All he can think about is getting home, taking care of his pets, and climbing into bed.  
Spending a few extra hours in bed makes Aleks feel a little less like garbage, but Brett wasn’t exactly wrong earlier. He doesn’t feel any better until he gets up and downs a couple bottles of water while waiting for his delivery to come by. After eating, Aleks was back to soaking in his anxiety, stretched out on his couch with Mishka curled on top of him. There’s nothing to watch on Netflix that catches his attention, but he gives up and throws on some comedy show he’s seen a hundred times. At least the background noise will keep him from completely losing his mind.

When his phone buzzes, he isn’t any happier.

One text is from James, which reads:

_u doin anythin? me and the kids r goin mini golfin. pls come. they love to see mom and dad together and happy._

The other is from Brett, which reads:

_You ok? Seemed kind of frazzled when you left._

Mini golfing sounds a lot more fun than moping at home, but moping at home seems a lot of fun too. Still… Aleks finds himself pulling on a pair of sneakers by the door, saying goodbye to Mishka and the presence of Celia, and let’s James know he’s on his way.

He doesn’t respond to Brett. He doesn’t know how, honestly. 

* * *

 After losing pretty miserably and having to take a ‘family’ photo with them, Jakob proudly in the middle with his winner’s medal, Aleks finds himself back in a pit of anxiety and in his car, sitting in the parking lot.

Now, he should… probably answer Brett. It’s been almost all day. Shit. What if Brett thinks he’s dead? Brett would probably be glad he’s dead. Maybe. Aleks would miss him, at least, if he was dead. Hopefully Brett would feel the same. When he looks back down at his phone, he has two new messages. One from Trevor, which is the picture they took. One, from Brett, which reads:

_If that was your first time, I totally get if you’re like weirded out. It happens._

First time? Aleks feels mildly offended.

**Not my first.**

_The fuck, then?_

Glad to have Brett as a support. Aleks sighs, grinds the heel of his palm into his eye.

**You freaked me out. I dunno. I just go on Grindr and dick around.**

The message bubble pops up and disappears a couple of times. Aleks takes that silence to start the car up and begin to pull out, trying hard to ignore how hard his heart is hammering, and how loud the ding of his phone sounds in the quiet of his car. Fucking hell. He takes a cautious glance at it during a red light, letting his thumb rest on the home button and unlocking his phone, skimming over Brett’s message, eyes darting between the red light and his phone.

_Dude it’s cool, but like those aren’t very good experiences. Also men your age fucking suck at most everything, so no wonder why you’re losing it._

Well, what the fuck? Aleks rolled his eyes in annoyance, taking a turn right into late evening traffic. He drums his fingers across the steering wheel before he gives in, picking up his phone to text while he’s at a stop.

**You weren’t complaining last night.**

_If I didn’t make the first move, you would’ve went home and jerked off alone._

God damn, Brett was obnoxious. Aleks got the opportunity to move up just a little before he got stuck again. His phone was dinging at him again, and Aleks thinks about turning it off when he grabs it, taking a look at the two new messages waiting from Brett.

_Last night was fun. I don’t regret any of it, but I wanna be on the same page here._

_What are you doing?_

Aleks mentally blows through about ten excuses while he thinks of what to say to Brett, what to do about Brett. Up ahead, he can see traffic starting to become uncongested. His time is starting to run out to respond to him.

**I’m trying to get home.**

_Swing over if you want, I’ll order the food._

Free food convinces Aleks to come over, or at least his appetite he worked up playing mini golf is his easy excuse. Aleks can see the sweat marks he’s leaving while gripping his steering wheel, and it’s disgusting. Why did he listen to Brett? He wipes his hands off on his pants multiple times before he gets out of his car.

If Brett is even half as bothered as Aleks, he doesn’t look it when he answers the door. No, he just looks… kinda cozy, already dressed for bed in shorts and a worn graphic tee. “Oh, you actually came.” Brett’s blinking at him a little, sounding… pleasantly surprised, almost. He slowly smiles and just beckons Aleks in with his hand, getting out of the way for him.

Aleks steps in slowly, reaching behind him to close the door. Brett is already walking away from him, rubbing his hands together. “You didn’t say whether or not you were coming over, but I put your food in the microwave if you still want it.” Brett closes an open laptop on the table and sinks into the chair, leaving Aleks to wander into his kitchen alone.

What he gets from the microwave doesn’t look like out food. It’s not in a plastic container, nor does it look like the typical decadent stuff that Aleks typically springs for. Aleks picks it up and leans back through the kitchen doorway to look at Brett, stretched out on the couch, looking down at his phone.

“Hey, where did you get this from?”

“My pantry.” Brett answers dully, tilting his head to look at Aleks. “Not everyone orders out all the time. Eat your greens for once, you’re a growing boy.”

Aleks looks down at the food and rolls his eyes just a little as he comes back out. He doesn’t know why Brett lied to him, except… he does, actually. The idea of Brett sharing a real, actual home cooked meal with him is a little fucking out there. He decides to sit down before Brett hits him with another line straight out of a first graders booklet about the food pyramid.

The food is… good. Aleks is too hungry not to try it, and it warms him a little having a home cooked meal again. Some kinda rice and vegetable dish, which probably makes up most of what Brett eats, Aleks would guess.

“It’s paella, and you’re welcome.” Brett says softly, lips curled a little in a smile. Aleks heats up from the too pleased look Brett gives him and lowers his fork, clearing his throat a little after he swallows.

“Did I come here just so you could watch me eat?”

“I’ve been into stranger things.” Brett admits, shrugging casually. “No, I wanted to talk about… this, before things got too weird-”

“What?” Aleks interrupts Brett with a loud snort. “What is this, then? A normal, acceptable amount of weird?”

“I thought we’ve been through worse, personally.” Brett makes his point, and keeps pushing through. “Why are you freaked out we slept together? Is it because I’m your friend, and you can’t ghost me like strangers on hook up apps?”

“Kind of.” Aleks bites out, his plate sitting in his lap now. He’s kind of hates that Brett has to be so fucking smart all the time. “I told you before, you’re not really my type either.”

Brett barks out a laugh at that, clapping his hands together. “What is your type, anyway? Nevermind, I don’t wanna know.” He holds his hands in his lap, head just shaking. “Alright, look. Do you regret it? Like, regret it so bad you don’t wanna acknowledge this happened anymore?” Brett asks, expression serious. Aleks knows he wants a real answer, and he just doesn’t know what to say right away.

“No.” Aleks forces out, rubbing his forehead. No, he fucking hates that idea. Trying it today was bad enough, being so put on edge. “I also don’t know what the fuck to do next, either.”

“Well,” Brett says, his shoulders lowering. Aleks didn’t notice it at first, but… Brett’s been a little tense too this entire time. Now, he’s just starting to relax. “Do you want it to happen again?”

“Yeah.” Aleks’ face is hot again when he answers, hates how calmly Brett can talk about this shit. “I mean, I guess. I’m not trying to jump into anything serious, but-”

“I’m not asking you to be my boyfriend.” Brett jumps in quickly, holding up his hand. “Just to be clear?”

“Oh,” Aleks closes his eyes as he breathes out in relief. Fuck. He rubs his hands over his eyes before opening them again. “Then… what?”

“I just wanna be your friend, idiot. Except… we can fool around on our down time. Is that too hard to follow? You’ve had a fuckbuddy before, come on.”

“They’re usually not my actual buddies.” Aleks says softly, but he’s already thinking about it. Hanging out with Brett is cool. Sometimes getting to fuck Brett while they hang out? Not… a bad idea.

“...Okay.”

Then, that’s it. After things are settled, Aleks doesn’t actually stay much longer then that. He almost feels a little dizzy afterwards, becoming Brett’s fuckbuddy and now he has to go home and just process all of that. He doesn’t feel as bad about it now, though. They’re on the same page.

When they see each other at the office again, it’s not too bad. They’re both too busy to worry about petty bullshit, and when Brett yells in his face for slacking off, Aleks feels refreshingly normal. He doesn’t even think about it again until it’s his day off, and….

Well, Aleks starts thinking about it a lot. Usually tonight would be the time he’d hit someone up and go blow some steam off, but now… that’s not the only option out there. Around noon, Aleks forces himself to stop checking his phone and take a shower in case he actually gets to go out tonight.

On the way back into his room, Aleks towels his hair off while he tries to glance at his phone from the corner of his eye. Except, Celia has her big ass on top of it. Great. After pulling on some underwear and bribing his cat with a few treats, Aleks gets his phone back at last and… that’s a text from Brett.

_Sup dipshit. Gonna go drinking, maybe. Could just go smash windows instead and get cursed by a witch in Hollywood or some shit. Wanna come?_

Aleks looks back up at Celia, now lounged across his bed like she owns it, and sighs.

“What do you think, huh?”

A flick of the tail and a small ‘murrp’ gives Aleks nothing, so he sits on the corner of his bed and responds.

**Yeah, okay I guess. Where do you wanna meet?**

_It’s been like, a decade since I’ve been in the cammy. Come pick me up._

Asshole.

Aleks decides to let Brett know that, too.

**Whatever asshole. Tell me when.**

_20 mins. Look pretty!_

Aleks hates that he immediately gets embarrassed at that, nearly chucks his phone across the room, but gets up and goes to his closet, staring at it sadly. Fuck, why did he own so much of the same shit? He fumbles for a moment going through his closet before deciding on his practically worn pair of black jeans and one of his plaid shirts, awkwardly dressing in front of his cat. God, she had to make everything weird. Sneakers next, and… Aleks awkwardly smoothed down his hair, frowning to himself. That might’ve killed five minutes.

He grabs his phone from where he left it on the bed, pulling his texts back up.

**Can I come now?**

_Fucking needy. I guess so. Don’t have a leadfoot._

**What? How old are you, again?**

_You wanna play that game?_

Aleks weighs the consequences. Brett can make his life hell, in and out of work. Ah, fuck it.

**I’ll drive like you. Slow as shit because you’re old.**

_I got you, Aleks._

Aleks feels slightly smug, but feels… mildly worried. Like, that small nagging feeling he gets when he starts a video that’s clearly gonna be a disaster and he’s gotta apologize for in the postroll. The feeling he ignores and plows on through with his life, which is also a constant disaster, and he says goodbye to the pup and cat, tells them he’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully, and leaves his apartment.


	2. lay your body down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> brett's fucking with him; the pier, the drinks, the date
> 
> or
> 
> not-date ft aleks anxiety

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> scrub here this time! first, i wanted to give a heads up that there was a tiny slip up with the first chapter. a part of the ending got left out. it's not that critical or anything, but it's fixed now. 
> 
> secondly, thank you to everyone for the kind words! i hope the second chapter doesn't disappoint. another big thanks to quill, my co-author for sticking with me through top aleks propaganda.

“You know, it’s nice to be the one being chauffeured for once.” Brett says as he opens the car door to slide into passenger side. That’s true. Aleks isn’t sure that he’s ever drove Brett anywhere, only up the wall with his antics. Brett has on his leather jacket for once, and Aleks appreciates the sight for a moment when it’s paired with a simple tank top.

“To get chau… uh… chauffeured around, I kinda need to know the game plan. Where exactly are we doing?”

“I thought we’d go to the pier.” Brett shrugs a little bit, leaning back in his seat as Aleks pulls away from the curb. “They do these concerts during the summer. I figured, we could just walk around, drink a little, enjoy some free music.”

Aleks can read between the lines. They were going to get tipsy and stand around while they watched other people crowd around each other for a free show.  He’d complain if he was doing anything remotely better with his day off. “You meeting up with anybody else?” He ends up asking instead, and that gets him a small pause.

“No.” Brett’s tone seems… careful, and Aleks takes one second from the road to give him a glance. “You and me are the only losers without any plans tonight.”

“If you told me your big plans were a free concert, I probably would’ve bailed too.”

“As if you weren’t waiting for me to hit you up.” Brett grins with his teeth and slaps Aleks on his thigh. Both his face and his lower stomach bloom with heat. Aleks only defends himself with some quiet mumbling underneath his breath. Brett doesn’t stop grinning.

* * *

 

Finding decent parking is a bitch. Aleks should have never listened to Brett when he asked for a ride in the Camaro. He pays for three hours of parking because surely, Brett isn’t going to make him stay any longer then that. Aleks can hope, at least.

The Pier looks the same as the last time Aleks was here. Totally swamped with tourists and others in varying levels of skin showing. The stage off in the distance is new, obviously. Aleks is just looking for the nearest bar, though. After he spots it, he steers Brett towards it with a hand on his shoulder.

“We got about an hour to kill before the show starts.”

“I can get pretty drunk in an hour.” Aleks muses, swirling his drink around in his cup before he takes a drink.

“Unless you wanna leave your nice car here, pace yourself my friend.” Brett places his hand on Aleks’ mid back and begins walking them in no particular direction. The crowd is big enough here that Aleks feels comfortable enough leaning into the touch. “You can drink and do other things at the same time. Isn’t that something?”

“This whole thing was your idea, but I have to entertain?” Aleks’ voice has that whiny edge to it, but he still starts to look around. What could he pick that would make Brett miserable? If Brett wanted some kind of weird date, Aleks could play at that angle. He gets an idea and starts to move, his hand holding on tight to Brett’s bicep.

When Brett realises where he’s being dragged off to, he lets out an amused little snort. “Really? Alright, it’s been a while. I don’t think they’ll let us an arcade with these, though.” He lifts his cup to indicate his point.

“Then bottoms up, dude.” Aleks is quick to tip back the rest of his double vodka and toss the cup in a nearby trash can. Brett does the same with the smallest wince. Aleks feels a little buzz going in, but this is probably the most sober he’s been in an arcade in his adult life.

The arcade is only… just slightly crawling with kids. There’s plenty of people around Aleks’ age as well. Brett might be the oldest person here, though. He didn’t do that on purpose, but it’s a little bit of an added bonus. There’s flashy new cabinets set up all around but they both pass on them. Aleks is immediately drawn to the familiar Dance Dance Revolution set up in one corner of the arcade.

“Hell yeah, dude.” Aleks hops up onto the platform and looks back at Brett, who looks at him and the cabinet with the same flat look. “You just gonna stand there?”

“Not really my kind of game.”

“Pussy.”

“Do you even have money for this thing?”

There’s a moment where Aleks pats his jeans while eyeing up the front of the machine. “It’s 2017, Brett. Even DDR takes plastic.”

Aleks is ready to continue to put Brett’s manhood into question before he finally steps up onto the platform opposite of him, heaving out a heavy sigh. Aleks is generous enough to swipe his card for them both, and takes it upon himself to pick out the first song.

Even on basic, Afronova manages to kick both of their asses. Aleks nearly falls on his face when he attempts to dab in the middle of his crossover. Brett spends enough time laughing at him for him to make up for his slip up, though. When the song ends, Aleks pumps a fist in the air, panting. He managed to beat out Brett by a decent margin.

“Are you already winded?”

“Pick a song, dude.”

They exchange looks while Brett goes through the songs. There’s that expression that Aleks doesn’t quite trust, but he’s too slow to notice when Brett stops on Butterfly and quickly chooses it.

“Fuck!” Aleks swears, a passing by mother shooting him a dirty look. “You know what? No. That’s fine. This is my motherfucking jam, actually.”

In actuality, Aleks spends the song getting yelled at by a computer voice over for how shitty his moves are. Brett’s spending more time watching him play then trying to win. When the song finally ends, Aleks leans heavily against the railing while he pants for air. Where did all his fucking stamina go? Only two songs? Really? When Aleks finally looks at the results screen, Brett still managed to take the round. What a burn.

“Why did you pick this game, again?” Brett isn’t looking totally unperturbed, but he’s way better off then Aleks and… yeah, there’s no huge surprise there. Aleks groans and waves his hand at Brett dismissively.

Last song, Aleks just puts on the Silent Hill 3 one to let the cinematic run in the background. The announcer berates them loudly while they watch the steps roll by.

“C’mon,” Brett wraps his arm supportively around Aleks’ shoulders as he walks them away from the DDR cabinet. “You did your best, champ. Now, I’m gonna introduce you to a game for real gentlemen.” Aleks can already see where Brett is going with this.

“Aw, fuck. Not Tekken.”

That ends as well as… the last time Aleks remembers playing Tekken with Brett. He manages to make the fight obnoxious, at least. Standing in a corner spamming the same combos doesn’t get him far, but it takes the fun out of the fight.

They don’t get kicked out, but their loud bantering started to catch the ire of the workers watching them, arms crossed over their chests. For once, Aleks decides against pushing his limits and escorts himself out with Brett. They’re hanging off each other and he can’t help but grin a little. He feels flushed and giddy, and one drink really isn’t enough to be the main cause of that.

The sun’s almost set when they get out and Aleks can hear the concert already up and running while they’re making their way back towards that direction. After grabbing his second drink of the evening, Aleks and Brett push their way into the crowd and get lost among the sea of strangers.

Knowing that no one could possibly be paying close enough attention to them feels.. Freeing. The second drink helps too when Aleks wraps an arm around Brett’s waist and pulls him in, their hips bumping into each other. Brett takes his eyes off the stage to look at him, and his little smile… kinda kills Aleks, just a little bit.

Aleks never even figures out who’s playing, in the end.

They ditch the concert early. Walking back to his parking space, Aleks hasn’t let go of Brett yet. They’re just walking slowly alongside each other, hip to hip. Feeling bold, Aleks has his arm tucked underneath Brett’s leather jacket. No one can see when Aleks pushes up the back of Brett’s shirt and touches warm skin.

“Not bad, right?” Brett sounds just… a little bit smug that his shitty idea for a night turned out decently. “You look pretty happy right now, at least.”

“Shut up.” Aleks bites on the inside of his mouth to keep from involuntarily smiling. “It was okay. Not the absolute worst time I’ve ever had in your company.”   
  
Brett makes a show of clapping his hand over his heart, walking ahead of Aleks a few staggering steps. “You wound me!” He turns to face Aleks as he walks backwards, just barely out of reach from him. “I saved you from a boring ass night of sitting in, or playing hook up on your phone and this is the thanks that I get.”

That’s actually mildly insulting, but Aleks only feels a little frustrated. The last bit of sunlight is lighting Brett up from behind and… it’s really hard to stay mad, Aleks quickly steps forward and catches Brett by the inside of his arm, pulling him forward so that he can close the distance between their lips.

“Alright,  that’s a pretty decent show of appreciation.” Brett breathes out when the kiss ends. There’s a second of thought before he licks at his lower lip and cocks his head to the side. “Is that all you got, though?”

Aleks hesitates for a moment. Was it? This is all still new to him and the alcohol isn’t making him any less dizzy, but he wants more. Brett’s someone he trusts and that makes him feel… foggy. Floating through water, that weightless feeling that he kind of hates, but he tightens his hold on Brett’s arm and pulls him in for another kiss. Brett responds in the like, lifts a hand to cup the back of Aleks’ neck and pull his body in, just a little closer, and Aleks whines low in his throat. Brett takes the opportunity to drag his tongue along Aleks’ bottom lip, lets his teeth follow right after, and Aleks pulls back with a sharp inhale.

“... We should leave?”  
  
“We can leave,” Brett echoes, deciding that’s just a fine plan. Aleks can see the flush in his cheeks; he’s been around drunk Brett enough to know when he’s too far gone, and this is almost kind of the same thing, “can I drive?”   
  
“Dude, I’m tipsy, not drunk. Fuck off,” Aleks shoves at him, pulls away to fish the camaro’s keys from his pocket. A quick unlock and they both climb in, Brett sighing a little dramatic as he settles into the passenger side seat.   
  
“Man, really. You have to let me drive this just once.”   
  
“Your peasant Kia hands won’t touch this steering wheel.”   
  
“Dude,” Brett looks at him, brows furrowed, “are you… did you really just call me a peasant?”   
  
“Yeah,” Aleks focuses on pulling out carefully, squinting from behind his sunglasses, “because that’s what you are.”   
  
Brett just rolls his eyes, Aleks can see it out of the corner of his, but he doesn’t fuss anymore. Means Aleks has won, or… something like that. He tries not to think too hard, cruising in a steady, slow speed as they get stuck in late night traffic. Fucking Brett.

Though, once they come to a stop for the millionth time, Brett’s warm hand is on his thigh, creeping up the inside of it, up along the inseam. Aleks tries so hard to focus instead on rolling forward, stopping, rolling forward, stopping, and not the warm, heavy weight of Brett’s hand practically cupping him, palming just slowly and steady. Fuck. This was unfair, some sort of cheating. He was driving, for fucks’ sake, this was entirely unfair.

But he doesn’t want it to stop, either. Aleks tilts his hips just so, shifting down in his seat to give Brett just a little more wiggle room. The hand against him just continued to palm him slowly, thumb running along the line of his zipper. Aleks shuddered in his seat, pressing his face a little into his hand, arm propped up on the door. Shit… He gave a small, cautious rock forward, trying to test the waters.

“You better not cum in your jeans,” Brett says, quickly, with a hard tone to his voice, and Aleks swallows hard around a lump in his throat. Why was that so hot? It doesn’t make it any easier to not resist Brett, not with the way the man keeps teasing him, the way his thumb brushes past his zipper and Aleks vainly wishes he’d just fucking touch him already, skin to skin, but that’s not the game Brett’s gonna play.

No, Brett’s gonna play some fucking long con. Drive Aleks crazy, maybe see if he crashes the camaro, maybe see if he hits the car in front of them slamming on the brakes. Something like that.

Though, God smiles down upon Aleks, though he’s not sure if that’s a good thing or not, and traffic starts to get less trafficky, less rolling stops and more actual moving, and Aleks has never been so happy to see his street before. Even the shitty gate they keep teasing him about that in no way constitutes this apartment as gated has never been a more welcome sight. He parks, careful, but Brett’s hand hasn’t left his chub, and Aleks clears his throat.

“We’re here, dude.”  
  
“I know,” Brett speaks, head tilting back, looking at Aleks, “you’re antsy, huh?”   
  
“I’m hard in my goddamn jeans, dude. I don’t think you noticed, but these aren’t really loose jeans. They don’t give me a lot of breathing room. Wiggle room, as the young folks would call it.”   
  
“Young folks?” Brett laughs, startled, pulling his hand away to clap, “you’re fucking with me.”

“Maybe,” Aleks cuts the engine and climbs out, glad it's dark enough that nobody is really going to see them, but see him, especially. Shit’s kind of embarrassing when he shares so much space with his neighbors. Aleks hadn’t thought of it before, but this is the first time he’s ever brought a guy back to his place. The idea has him pausing when he’s trying to get his key in the door. Warm hands underneath his shirt bring him out of his head.

“C’mon…” Brett urges, his mouth close enough to Aleks’ ear that he can feel the hot breath on the shell. A shiver rocks through him and kicks his ass into gear again, quickly getting his key into the door to unlock and push it open.

As soon as the door opens, something hits him in the legs and darts off again, all black blurr that’s yapping excitedly. Right. “Mishka, chill.” Aleks whispers, hurrying into try and calm his hyperactive dog. He can hear Brett close the door behind him. “I know, I know. “ Aleks soothes, rubbing through the fluff on her neck as she greets him with kisses.

“Cute.”

Speaking up just makes Brett the next target. Aleks drops his hand to his knee as he looks over, watching as Brett kneels down to say give Mishka a greeting as well. She nearly barrels into his chest, claws tapping on the floor as she keeps spinning in circles, with only makes Brett laugh. It’s weirdly endearing, a fucked up sort of intimate moment. It makes Aleks have a sudden flight instinct, but he does his best to push through. It’s just Brett. It’s… just Brett.

It’s just Brett.

Aleks rationalizes the thoughts with his breaths, reaching down to just gently touch the top of Mishka’s head as she finally leaves Brett to harass him again, dancing around his legs. “Da, da, you just want food… where’s your sister, huh? Sleeping? Lazy ass,” He murmurs, herding Mishka into the kitchen. He manages to feed her without major food spillage from her fat ass banging into the bag and leaves her to it, standing in the doorway to his kitchen, an arm against the wall. Brett’s already made himself at home, jacket thrown over the back of his couch, leaning against it and looking at his phone.

“That’s rude. You’re my guest,” Aleks murmurs, walking over to Brett and looping his pointer fingers through the belt loops on Brett’s jeans, tugging a little bit like an attention starved kid. Which… he kind of is, anyways. Brett does pocket his phone and look up, head cocked as his arms cross over his chest.  
  
“Then entertain me.”   
  
Fuck. That was what Aleks was afraid of. There’s a hundred reasons why the man in front of him is so intimidating, but he tries to remember that it’s just Brett.

It’s just Brett.

They kiss with Aleks initiating, eyes lid and mouth parting with a sudden need, and then Brett takes control. Sweeps his tongue along Aleks’ bottom lip, lets it slip into his mouth and press against Aleks’ before he pulls away, just slightly, and bites at his bottom lip, and Aleks _whimpers_ and loses control so very, very quickly. It takes Brett little effort to turn them, Aleks pressed up against the back of the couch, and for a thigh to press in between his own. Shit. Brett doesn’t even notice his slightly doe-eyed confused look, mouth pressed to his jaw and nipping, just slight. He wants to bitch about leaving marks, but when Brett’s mouth moves to his pulse and sucks at the skin… ok, that all goes out the window. Brett can do whatever the fuck he wants to Aleks.

That’s just the way the night’s going to go, anyways. Brett pulls back enough and Aleks is… dazed, to say the least, when a warm hand rucks up his shirt, sits at the base of his spine, and leads him to his own bedroom. There’s a part of him that wants to be snarky and bitch and fight back a little, but the moment he turns his head, just slightly, the hand at his back flexes and nails press into his skin and yeah, alright. Aleks gets that message loud and clear. Once in his room, he’s just thankful Celia isn’t in here, because she’s just made of rocks and is a bitch to move anywhere. The telltale click of the door fills the silence and Brett’s hand finally leaves his back and Aleks, fuck, he kinda misses that touch.

So he goes for more, turning into Brett and letting his own hands push up the man’s tank, fingers tugging at the waistband of his jeans, and Brett just laughs, kisses Aleks quickly, squishing his cheeks even, and pulls away, jiggling his cheeks as he does so.  
  
“You’re needy.” 

“Fuck off,” Aleks grunts, voice slightly muffled from the squished cheeks, “dude, what are you, my grandma?”  
  
Brett laughs again and lets go, playfully shoving Aleks in the shoulder. “Sexy talk for the bedroom. Love it.”   
  
“Don’t be an old man, then.”   
  
The look he gets… it’s not mad, but it’s not joking, either. It’s the tedious line in between, the smile on Brett’s face, but the eyes that say _you’re dead_ , and Aleks mentally braces himself for whatever might come next.

Nothing verbally, but _shit_ , he always forgets Brett’s so fucking strong. But the shove isn’t even that full of malice or anything, just makes him take a couple steps back, and when Brett steps forward, he steps back, until his legs hit his bed and Aleks sits down, eyes glued to Brett’s. He’s expecting another hit, so yeah, maybe he flinches just slightly when Brett moves, but that’s not what comes. Instead, Brett drops onto his lap, knees bracketing his thighs, and they’re almost touching. Brett’s purposely hovering for a reason, and Aleks absolutely hates the fact that in the span of what… 20, 30 minutes? Brett’s already made him this hard, _again_ , and they’ve done fucking nothing.

Brett knows, though. Aleks can read it on his face and hates it even more, hates himself for being a smidgen easy, and doesn’t fuss at all when Brett pushes him down with one hand placed firm on his chest. Doesn’t say anything when Brett’s ass sits on his chub, drives him even crazier. Keeps quiet when hands unbutton his shirt and slides it off his shoulders, when they splay out on his ribcage and Brett leans down, mouth exploring over his sternum and shoulders, and Aleks doesn’t even care when Brett takes the time to suck a mark right where his shirt collars would sit, too busy trying to not just cum in his jeans like he’s 16 again. They’re not even doing anything, but the weight of Brett, the easiest of touches… it’s enough to make him want to die. Brett’s hand presses against the soft part of his lower stomach and… he’s stops.

“Hey, remember to breathe.”

Aleks doesn’t remember stopping, but it turns out that Brett’s not wrong. He’s been holding his breath for god knows how long now. After a shaky exhale, Aleks sucks in another breath and he starts to feel all the tense points in his body start to ease out. Crazy how not being oxygen deprived helps out in life.

“I’m good.”

“Uh, you’re good.” Brett repeats while he looks at him carefully. “Are you feeling alright?”

Again with this shit. Aleks really doesn’t like the idea of Brett trying to hold his hand through sex, like he’s never fucked a dude before. So what, he stopped breathing for a second? It happens. Never bothered any of the other guys he was fucking. “I said so, didn’t I?” Aleks pushes up Brett’s shirt in a clumsy distraction attempt, nails raking against his abs and enjoying the way Brett’s eyelashes flutter against his cheeks.

That seems to work, because Brett is lifting his shirt off the rest of the way for Aleks. He takes it, hands sliding up the trail of thick hair that’s dusted over his rib cage, and his chest… Aleks’ thumb brushes against Brett’s nipple and gets the smallest huff of laughter out of him. Brett quickly leans down to kiss him again, try to cover it up but it’s too late. Aleks already heard it. His fingers keep exploring the firmness of Brett’s chest, get momentarily awed again at just how strong he feels.

At least, Brett’s not unaffected in all of this. When their kiss breaks again, Bretts breathing heavily and leaning into Aleks’ ear as he rocks his hips down onto his lap. The feeling of denim on denim is fucking torturous, and Aleks’ hands clumsily reach to tug at the back of Brett’s jeans. Brett’s hot breath against his ear stops him, makes Aleks moan in his throat.

“I want you to fuck me.” Brett’s gasping, hips still moving onto Aleks’ lap. “I’m gonna get ready for you, and then I want… I want _this_ ,” Brett doesn’t need to press his ass so hard on Aleks’ dick to make his point, “in me. Yeah?”

“O-oh, fuck. Dude, yeah. Yeah.” Aleks is quick to agree, but he still groans when Brett climbs off of him like he didn’t quite realize that was part of the deal. When he rolls over, he sees Brett lounge against his pillows, leaning back as he lifts his hips and finally peels his black jeans off of him. Their eyes meet and Brett just huffs out another small laugh.

“If you’re gonna watch, then you can at least tell me where your supply is.” There’s a pause as Aleks blinks at him. Brett’s smile wanes and he’s rolling his eyes. “...Come on. Lube, Aleksandr. I didn’t come that well equipped.”

His hand moves to rub his forehead as he looks around. Crawling next to Brett, Aleks reaches for his nightstand drawer and pulls it open. There’s an almost full bottle that he finds pushed towards the back of the drawer. When he turns back to Brett, his hand is already out to take it. There’s a moment as Brett looks at the bottle before he leans in and pecks Aleks.

“Thanks.” Brett sinks into Aleks’ pillows and legs his thighs fall open. It takes Aleks several moments before his brain kicks in and he moves closer to him, letting his hand fall against Brett’s thigh. When his brain tries to piece together what’s happening, it just shorts out mid thought. He realizes he’s holding his breath again as he watches Brett’s briefs slid down his legs.

He exhales hard when Brett reaches between his legs, and he can’t see anything from this angle, but Brett’s expression shows it all. His mouth falls open in a quiet sigh, eyes closing while his hips lift off the bed a little. Aleks’ eyes trail down the length of his arm, where his wrist bends between his legs. Brett’s cock is hard as a rock against his stomach. Thank God he’s not the only one.

“Enjoying the view?” Brett grins, looking at Aleks underneath his lashes. There’s a pretty flush across his face and Aleks can feel how hot his cheeks are too. He feels Brett look him over, and then he reaches over with the hand that’s not currently busy to tug at his belt loop. “C’mon, off with the pants already.”

When Aleks starts fumbling with his belt buckle, he notices that Brett’s still watching him. Can’t be that sexy, the way he struggles to kick his pants off but Brett’s hand is still moving between his thighs. Finally, the last layer of his underwear comes off and he hears Brett breathe out and feels his warm hand pulling at his hip.

“C’mere…” Brett urges, and licks his lips when Aleks slides back into place beside him. Aleks almost lets out a shocked noise because Brett’s hand in on him in a second, fingers wrapping around him and stroking slowly.

“O-oh…” Aleks gasps, his legs trembling through Brett’s initial touch without any stupid jeans getting in the way. Looking down at Brett, his flush has gotten stronger and his eyebrow is wrinkled, lip caught between his teeth. When he finally releases his slightly bruised lower lip from his teeth, Aleks leans down and captures it instead, sucking at his soft mouth before he rolls their tongues together.

Mid kiss, Brett drops his hand from Aleks making him whimper between their lips He doesn't expect Brett to take his hand instead, pull it so it touches his thigh and… Fuck, Aleks opens an eye and watches as his hand is brought between Brett’s legs. Aleks doesn’t need any further encouragement. He finds Brett’s hand and follows along his knuckles. The feeling of Brett stretched around his fingers is stronger than any visual could be. Aleks’ teeth bump against Brett’s with how eagerly he kisses him next.

Brett has three fingers buried inside of himself. Aleks can feel the way he presses them in deep and spreads them apart. When Brett moans against his mouth, Aleks already knows it’s because he’s fucking himself hard. It’s hot and it’s frustrating as fuck. Aleks burns with how much he wants to be there instead.

“Brett, come on.” Aleks whines, pulling away from his mouth. “Stop fucking with me. You said you wanted me, right?”

Brett, the asshole, simply hums at him and bites at his lower lip. Aleks swears and grabs at his wrist in frustration. What is Brett waiting for? He has to be ready. He’s playing a game like he always does and it’s pissing Aleks off. His mind searches for something to say before he feels another rush of heat. Yeah, that would be like Brett.

“Please.” Aleks isn’t too proud to beg, though. “You’re driving me fucking crazy, Brett. Please…”

“So, he does have manners.” Brett muses, sounding too fucking pleased with himself. His hand is gone, though. Aleks pulls back to watch him stretch out on the bed, relaxing against his pillows like the asshole he is. “Alright, come on.”

Aleks is almost so eager he forgets to grab a condom. At least, all he has to do is grab his wallet from his discarded jeans and pull it out of his wallet. He kneels between Brett’s legs and tears it open with his teeth. This part is easy, sliding it on and checking quickly before he gives it a pass. Brett’s watching him the entire time, and when he’s done he lifts his hips up for Aleks to grab onto.

“Fuck.” Brett breathes out, his arm falling across his face as soon as Aleks starts to push in. Aleks shares the sentiment, but he’s holding his breath again while he tries to focus on anything else then how hot and tight Brett feels around him. “Oh, fuck.” Brett repeats himself, hips pushing back against Aleks when he’s finally buried in. Hands fall down to grip at the pillows underneath his head while Brett tilts his head back

“Come on,” there’s barely a wait before Brett’s rocking his hips onto Aleks. “F-fuck, yes.” Brett whimpers as Aleks responds to his urging, hips pushing into the rhythm of the way he’s rolling his hips against him. Distantly, Aleks doesn’t think he imagined Brett would be this loud, but he is. Aleks is the one fucking him, but Brett doesn’t hesitate to tell Aleks what he wants.

“More, you need t-to, ah.” Brett tilts his hips, correcting Aleks’ angle. “Fuck! Right there. Aleks, don’t stop.” His hand grabs onto Aleks’ neck and pulls him down for a searing hot kiss. All Aleks can do is moan, his head dizzy and hot, and follow Brett’s lead.

Brett’s close, Aleks can tell by the strong legs wrapped around his waist and the gasps he earns from Brett with every hard thrust. Brett’s laying against the pillows again, his head tilted back while Aleks rocks him forward with each movement. Aleks is quickly losing control, too. He squeezes Brett’s hip and shakes, eyes falling shut.

“I-I’m gonna, Brett… fuck, Brett.”

“Me too.” Brett says quickly, and Aleks opens his eyes again when he feels a hand cup his cheek. “You’re so good, Aleks. Come on, I-I’m right there. Just a little more, right there…” His chest feels like it’s going to burst, but Aleks tries. He ignores the building heat in his stomach and tries to follow Brett’s voice as he moans out for him.

When it happens, Brett’s hips lift even further up, thighs squeezing around his hips so hard Aleks nearly buckles. His hands clutch at Aleks’ shoulders and desperately, Aleks finally chases after his own peak. That hot pleasure building in his stomach finally breaks, and Aleks can only melt against Brett’s chest as it leaves him boneless and weak.

Aleks comes back around to the feeling of something lightly combing through his hair. He slowly opens his eyes and sees Brett looking back at him, looking equally fucked out but just a little more coherent than he is. Aleks wants to comment how weird it so to be petted right after sex, but… nothing comes out. He lets his eyelids droop again and despite himself, simply enjoys the feeling for now.

They have to move eventually. When the afterglow wears off, Aleks just feels his skin sticking to Brett’s and it’s kind of gross. He reaches down to hold onto the condom as he pulls out and after rolling off of Brett, Aleks quickly takes care of it. As he settles back down onto the bed, he feels Brett’s warm body press against his side.

“Not bad.”

Aleks snorts and allows Brett to fling an arm around him. The feeling is a little strange, but it’s not bad. “That’s not what you were saying earlier.” He reminds Brett, tilting his head back to smirk at him. Brett rolls his eyes and pushes his face away with his other hand. Aleks hopes that’s the clean one.

“Dude!”

“Shut up and go to sleep.”

He wants to complain more, but it’s not like Aleks can really fight the fact he is tired. Instead, he just stretches out before curling up, letting himself, essentially, be little spooned by Brett. Still, it’s better than being alone at night, even if he is still reeling just so from the fact Brett’s here, in his apartment, staying the night, after fooling around. Staying at Brett’s place… that was different. Aleks wasn’t even sure he had food to feed them in the morning. He tried to not think about it too hard, tucking an arm under his head and letting his eyes finally fall shut.

Brett has some sort of fuck-am early internal alarm clock because he wakes before Aleks, and all his shuffling makes Aleks wake up, which is even more annoying. He grunts and tries to cover his face up with his arms, pretend the sun isn’t shining into his eyes, but Brett’s not any better. He’s loud, rustling around and going to the bathroom, and Aleks just looks miserable. It has to be like… 6 am, or something.

When Brett comes back from the bathroom, Aleks is less than thrilled to know the real time.  
  
“You look like shit, buddy. It’s 10 am… did that vodka last night really kick your ass?”

“No,” Aleks lies, sitting up in bed and scrubbing a hand over his face, looking at Brett, “why are you always like this?”  
  
“What, dead?”   
  
“Chipper.”   
  
“Wouldn’t call it chipper,” Brett offers, finding his briefs and pulling them on, looking Aleks over, “you got any food in this place?”   
  
Aleks shrugs. “Sure?”   
  
“Confident. Like it,” Brett shakes his head and leaves the bedroom, unleashing the beast. Mishka barrels right past him to jump up onto the bed and Aleks just groans, wrapping an arm around her middle and holding her close. She calms down for a moment and it’s a blissful sixty seconds before she’s wriggling free and hopping off the bed, clacking her way across the floor out to Brett. Aleks just sighs and retreats to his bathroom, taking more time then he needs to do his morning things.

Eventually he shuffles out to the kitchen, and… wow, Brett actually found some food. Aleks adjusts the waistband of his underwear, crossing the distance between him and Brett. He lifts on his toes, peeking over Brett’s shoulder.  
  
“Whatcha making?”   
  
“Eggs, which is all I could manage to find in this place. Aleks, you really have got to go grocery shopping.

“Eh,” Aleks murmurs and leans down, rubbing Mishka’s head as she sits near her bowl, expecting to be fed too, which Aleks sighs loudly and dramatically, making it seem like a chore feeding her. She just looks incredibly pleased, laying down on her stomach as she eats. Lazy ass. He fills Celia’s bowl too, for whenever she decides to come out of her ten year slumber, and sits at his tiny table, deciding to just watch Brett cook instead of helping at all. He looks kind of cute, in a weird way. In a… weirdly domestic way. Aleks immediately looks away, face hot. Yeah, that’s what he was worried about. This intimacy shit. Even when he had dated people, it always got to a point where Aleks was just anxious about the natural progression of a relationship.

But… Brett said they weren’t dating. They were just friends with benefits. Friends.

Still, Brett sets a plate down in front of him and sits across and digs in as if nothing has happened at all between them. Aleks kind of wishes he had that easy confidence, the seemingly no care attitude Brett puts up. So, he decides to break the ice first.  
  
“Weird, huh?”   
  
“What? Us eating together?”   
  
“Kinda.”   
  
Brett just shrugs, giving Aleks a small smile. “Look, we’re just friends. Don’t worry about it. But, I do have something I wanted to ask.”   
  
Oh. Uh. Shit. “Shoot.”   
  
“Last night, I noticed… you were kinda into me pushing you around. Is that something you normally like?”   
  
Aleks burns red to his ears, head lowered as he stuffs his face with egg instead of answering, feeling incredibly embarrassed. This isn’t the conversation he really wants to have over breakfast, of all things, especially with Mishka in the room. She’s like, only 5 or something in dog years. “Dude, there’s a baby present. You can’t talk about that stuff.”   
  
Brett blinks before looking at Mishka, unaware of them talking about her, still lying down with her face in her bowl. “Oh. Isn’t she three? That’s twenty in dog years, Aleks.”   
  
“Maybe.”   
  
“Just answer the question, dummy. Did you like it or not?”   
  
Aleks grumbles to himself, looking away, trying to find anything to do but answer the question. Brett’s staring at him, waiting, and Aleks just glances back, glaring for a brief second.   
  
“Yeah, fine. I liked it. So what?”   
  
“You know, I can… do more of that. Boss you around. Is that what you’d want?”   
  
“This conversation is absolute dicks. It’s garbage.”   
  
“Yes or no, Aleks.”   
  
Aleks looks annoyed, like a kid told he can’t go play outside because he broke a vase or something, shoving his eggs around on his plate. Some fall off and he just idly scoots them to the floor, where Mishka, with supersonic hearing, does a 180 and pounces on the egg. Aleks is tempted to throw some more down to amuse himself, but Brett clears his throat, and Aleks mumbles to himself.   
  
“Yeah, fine. I...  I’d like that. Can we stop talking about it now, please? She’s watching us.”   
  
“Because you purposely dropped food!” Brett complains, looking at Mishka and wagging his fork at her, “he’s a fucking dick, Mishka. It’s high time you come and live with me. Experience the good life.”   
  
“She’d eat all your succulents, then you’d cry,” Aleks mumbles, poking sadly at his eggs before taking another bite and pushing the plate away, leaning back in his chair, “was that it, man? Trying to just embarrass me in front of my dog?”   
  
“Well, if you want to take it that way, then yes. It’s kind of normal to discuss sexual boundaries, Aleks.”   
  
“Yeah, fuck that,” Aleks laughs, running a hand through his hair. He means for it to come off as a joke, but Brett’s not buying it, and he just shrugs, “it’s cool. Normal. Love it. Thanks.”   
  
“Alright, I see we’ve wandered into this point of the conversation, where you pretend you’re better than normal people.”   
  
“Because I am,” Aleks gestured to himself, looking down at Mishka, “right, baby?”   
  
Mishka cocks her head at the pet name, tail giving tiny swishes against the floor. “See, she gets it.”   
  
Brett rolls his eyes but doesn’t say anymore, but the look he gives Aleks says ‘ _later_ ’. That kind of sucks. Aleks just decides to feed the rest of his eggs to Mishka instead, dropping them into her half eaten kibble as he sets the dish in the sink to forget about it for a week.

They end up hanging out for a little longer together and thankfully, the topic of their sex life doesn’t come up again. When Brett finally dips out, Aleks walks him to the door. He’s wearing one of Aleks’ shirts and even though it’s one of the larger sizes Aleks owns, it’s still too tight around the shoulders. He looks good enough that Aleks can ignore the act of stealing his clothing.

“See you around, man.” Brett pats Aleks on the shoulder, and he assumes that’s all the touch is going to be before Brett actually pulls him closer by his grip. His hand slides to the back of Aleks’  neck and leans over to press their lips together. They’re standing in his door way, and Brett is just casually kissing him good-bye.

Is this really what Brett thinks friends with benefits do?

The kiss lasts for only a moment, but Aleks still pulls away with a red face. “Yeah, dude. Totally. Um.”

“We’re still going to talk about that thing.” Brett prods him in the chest. “So… just think about it, alright?” He looks down at his phone and lets his hand fall away from Aleks’ neck. “Alright, my Lyft’s here. Bye Mishka!” Mishka, who has been standing around watching them, waiting to be included wags her tail happily.

Aleks hates that after Brett leaves, he still manages to fuck with him like that. He flops onto the couch, hands resting on his forehead as last night replays through his head. 

_Just think about it, alright?_

The idea of sitting around and worrying about what kinda kinky shit he got into with Brett is going to drive him nuts. Aleks hops up and quickly gathers his things together so he can take off. He has no idea what anyone else is doing today, but it has to be better  than moping around on his couch.


	3. rest your head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one long year later, and i've finally decided to come back to this story. i owe a way overdue thank you and also a small apology to everyone who continued to read this story and leave their thoughts. this new chapter is thanks to you guys for inspiring me to continue on.
> 
> as always, i owe a lot to my friend [quill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/liesmith), for co-writing the beginning of this chapter and their help throughout it all. 
> 
> this chapter also had an enormous amount of help from [cibmata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cibmata) who was my beta reader. they seriously did an incredible job editing and ironing the whole thing out!!
> 
> check them both out for some good, good fic!

Life goes back to normal, or as normal as life can be, all things considered. Aleks texts Brett and sure, they still do weekend bar trips, but it always ends with Aleks in his own bed, all alone with only his pets for company.

And then Brett starts to travel for work and Aleks finds it harder to fill the time. He can’t even bother Brett with his bullshit over the phone because he’s in a different country and a different timezone. Work helps, and Mishka gets walked a little more regularly, which is thrilling for her. Aleks still finds himself going out, but it’s different when Brett’s not there. He doesn’t even touch the dating apps, can practically hear Brett making fun of  him for not being able to wait when he even thinks about it.

So, a lot of nights end up like this. Aleks curled up with Mishka on the couch, phone in hand as he unsuccessfully tries to get some sleep.

**You awake?**

Last Aleks had heard, Brett was in Germany. All he remembers was he was supposed to go, and couldn’t, and he feels more inconvenienced by Brett leaving him alone than guilt about not going.

_kinda. what’s up?_

Good question. Aleks stares at the fluff of his dog on his chest, as if she could console him right now. Why did he even bother texting Brett at all? The time difference is probably nuts.

**Just checking in.**

_touched. missed me?_

Despite all efforts not to get embarrassed by that, Aleks can feel the tips of his ears start to burn.

**No. You’re an asshole. I just wanted to make sure you were still alive because I don’t think James is ready to take over.**

_well it would be lindsey because shes the only one i can trust_

_but, i gotchu_

_i’m going to bed then. i have to get up early tomorrow for the convention. night, aleksandr. luv u_

**Yeah, night, dickhead.**

Aleks grumbles to himself and drops his phone on top of Mishka. Brett’s the worst.

He stretches out on the couch, getting comfortable with Mishka on him and focusing instead on the television to hopefully drown out any other thoughts he might let stir. There’s no need to think about Brett, or missing him, or anything like that. They’re not dating.

It’s just Brett, and Brett is just his friend.

 

* * *

 

 

It’s a week later when Brett finally comes back, bearing gifts for them all. They’re just shitty tourist keychains, but Aleks still feels a little warm when he gets his. Brett’s hand covers his own and lingers a little too long there before he moves on, throwing a keychain in Jakob’s general direction much to his protest of being killed by projecticles.

The day goes on as usual, though maybe a little quieter than normal. During a down moment, Aleks feels himself drawn towards Brett’s office. He leans against the doorframe as he takes a second to just watch - Brett’s too focused on the monitor in front of him to notice Aleks is even there for what feels like a long time, and when he finally looks up, raising a brow as he tips back in his chair, he’s still half-looking at his work.

“What did you break now, Aleks?”

“Nothing!” Aleks answers quickly, throwing a hand up in defense. “Nothing. I swear. I was just wondering… if you wanted to hang out tonight.”

There’s a tone to his own voice that Aleks immediately regrets. Shit. Could he sound any more pathetic? Maybe he’s pushing his luck doing this at work, especially now that Brett has no doors, no privacy. Brett finally turns his head to actually focus on Aleks, which really doesn’t make him feel any better.

“I don’t know. If I can get out of here at a decent time, then maybe-,”

“You’re not gonna get off with the rest of us?” Aleks can see Brett’s irritation with the interruption, but Aleks can tell when he’s getting blown off. 

“I got a bit of a backlog here, Aleks. I don’t have the luxury of jerking off on camera and then going home to jerk off some more.”

“Well, nobody’s stopping you,” Aleks mumbles, a bit of a bratty edge to his voice. He knows Brett is busy, but some selfish part of him can only think about the fact that it’s been weeks since he’s gotten Brett alone.

Apparently unaffected, Brett rolls his eyes and turns back to his monitor, and the conversation is over. Right. Cool. Aleks waffles for a second, tries to look like he hasn’t just been rejected as he leaves the doorway.

The rest of his day ends up dragging on unbearably, even when Asher gets ahold of the blow-torch and starts harassing everyone with it.

Finally, the end of the day rolls around and Aleks feels like he’s vibrating out of his skin. As much as Aleks loves his girls, the idea of spending another night bored to death with only Netflix and his animals is driving him just a little crazy. And anyway, just because Brett doesn’t want to enjoy the weekend doesn’t mean Aleks can’t without him. He’s got plenty of other options.

Almost immediately, he zeroes in on Trevor. Joe and Asher are already outside and Trevor’s trying to hurry after them. Aleks startles Trevor by how quickly he moves, hears him swear as his exit is cut off. Aleks perches himself in his way, arms crossed over his chest and grinning.

“You doing anything tonight, Trev?”

“Oh, jeez,” Trevor groans, eyeing Aleks warily. “I dunno, dude. The way you’re looking at me makes me wanna say no.”

“You’re coming with me,” Aleks tells him, and looks out the door to see Asher squinting at them both from where he’s waiting by Joe’s car. After a pause, Aleks gestures toward him and then looks back at Trevor. “What about Asher? What’s he doing?”

“Getting drunk. Embarrassing himself on Twitch, probably.”

“Oh.” Aleks glances back just in time to see Asher and Joe make their escape, not looking back at Trevor. No honor among thieves.

He slides an arm around Trevor’s shoulders, tilting his head. “Come on, Khail owes me dinner.”

That’s how Aleks manages to force Trevor into an Uber and on to some restaurant that Aleks vaguely remembers wanting to go to at some point. He’s not particularly hungry, but he does know that they serve good drinks, and that’s all that matters to him.

When they arrive, the place is totally packed. They have to wait for Khail to show up, but he doesn’t take too long considering Aleks invited him out last minute. The three of them get shuffled outside onto the patio, which actually ends up being quite nice. The warm glow from the setting sun lights everything just right, and Aleks feels like he’s living in an Instagram photo once his prickly pear margarita finally comes to him.

Trevor does not look happy at all when he’s forced to watch Khail and Aleks taste their drinks. He’s poking around his carne asada fries with his fork, looking rather mopey. Leave it to Trevor to come to a hip place and order the fucking fries. Aleks went for the catch of the day, and he ends up presented with a whole grilled fish staring back at him. Ever supportive, Khail decides to order the same thing.

Even though Trevor didn’t ask to come, he and Khail both offer the distraction that Aleks needed so badly. Maybe it’s the drinks that Aleks just keeps ordering, but he felt the weight from earlier gradually ease up as they all spend the next hour just shooting the shit.

Khail and Aleks drag Trevor in for a couple of photos, their cocktails and Trevor’s glass of Coke raised. He manages to get away from them after that, but Khail and Aleks get in a few more of their drink-flushed faces. Awesome. Aleks looks like he’s having so much fun right now, and that’s what matters. The best ones go up on Instagram and Aleks leans back in his chair as he rereads his caption before hitting post.

_All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy._

It’s totally not pointed at anyone in particular. Not at all.

A glass clinks against his in a clumsy attempt at a toast. “Here’s to Aleks, for dragging us all out last minute,” Khail says, raising an eyebrow along with his glass. “Nice to know he still keeps the rest of us in mind.”

“What?” Aleks squints, glancing between Khail and Trevor as Trevor perks up visibly, finally looking interested in the conversation. “What does that mean?”

“Oh, I was just kidding.” Khail looks genuinely concerned when Aleks fails to laugh at his joke, shrugging his shoulders placatingly. “You just haven’t been around as much, man. Lately it’s been you and Brett, mostly. Hey, didn’t he just get back?” Khail looks a little excited after remembering that, and he doesn’t seem to notice Aleks’ little frown.

“Him? Oh, I guess.” Aleks shrugs, and Trevor casts him a strange look. “Yeah, he came back this morning and he’s been working like a lunatic.” He stabs at his fish. “I don’t hang out with Brett that much.”

There’s a silent, uncomfortable moment where Aleks feels his whole face go hot while Trevor and Khail both stare at him. When it becomes unbearable Aleks breaks the silence by going for one of Trevor’s now cold fries, making him cry out and swat Aleks’ hand away. Aleks finally forces the weird fluttery feeling in his chest to pass while listening to Trevor complain.

The normal banter picks back up, but Aleks still feels distracted from it all. How did he not notice that his friends could tell he was with Brett all of the time now? Was he really that bad of a friend?

What else had they noticed?

After the bill is taken care of, Aleks and Khail spend a moment trying to figure out where to go next. Trevor was ready to turn in for the night, or more likely go home and join Asher in some bullshit that everyone would hear about on Twitter the next day.

“There’s this new bar I heard about, all they serve is Russian vodka.” Khail is smiling at him, waiting for a response, but Aleks feels his phone buzz and there is nothing cool about the way he fumbles to get it out of his pocket.

When Aleks sees who it’s from, his stomach definitely doesn’t flutter or anything. If his face feels hot, it’s just because of all the drinks.

_still interested in hanging out?_

Aleks has to swallow around the thick feeling in his throat as he looks up at Khail, still politely waiting for his answer. He pockets his phone and tries to look casual as he shrugs his shoulders. “Nah, I think I’m just gonna go home.”

He doesn’t get his phone back out again until he’s in his own Uber, trying to ignore the gnawing feeling of guilt in his stomach from blowing Khail off. He’ll be alright, and Aleks will make it up to him later. But right now, Aleks is sweating bullets in the backseat of this car.

**Dunno. You gonna bite my head off again?**

_i don’t know. are you gonna break my shit?_

_for the record that was a joke_

_at home if you change yr mind. door’s unlocked._

The anxious tickle in his stomach has bloomed into full on butterflies when Aleks pockets his phone again. Objectively, he knows that lying to Khail makes him a bad friend. He shouldn’t feel so happy sneaking around, but Aleks thinks about his lonely bed and he doesn’t feel as guilty as he probably should.

The door of Brett’s apartment is, as promised, unlocked when he finally shows up. After inviting himself inside, Brett isn’t anywhere to be seen as far as Aleks can tell. He pokes his head into the kitchen and the little home office, but it’s only when he sticks his nose into the bedroom that he hears the the shower running. So Aleks goes back into the living room and sits down on Brett’s couch, letting his body sink in as he takes in the apartment.

There's little differences around the space since Aleks' last visit. Some more geeky paraphernalia has been added to the shelves and there's a couple of souvenirs from Brett's trips - posters and flags on the walls, little figures sprinkled around the apartment. Aleks even recognizes some gifts that they opened together at the warehouse. A couple of months ago, he wouldn't have noticed any of it without Brett pointing it out to him.

Before, this was a convenient place to have fun. Now, he sits here quietly with his phone sitting in his lap undisturbed, television off, lights dim and Aleks feels comfortable. In Brett’s home, his neat and tidy little space that he keeps allowing Aleks into.

Maybe he’s too drunk for this. The alcohol is getting him all sentimental for no reason. Maybe he shouldn’t have come.

That’s how Brett finds him, still fighting with himself about what he’s doing here and why. Aleks hears the bedroom door click open and Brett is standing in the doorway, a towel hung around his shoulders and a pair of fuzzy looking pajama bottoms sitting low on his hips. Brett’s looking at him with a lifted eyebrow, so Aleks squints back at him in return.

“You shower with your front door unlocked?”

“Not usually, but tonight I was feeling hopeful,” Brett snarks back, rubbing at the back of his head with his towel. His hair is starting to get long and while it’s still wet Aleks can really see how it curls around his ears and at the nape of his neck. “And look at that, all my hopes and dreams came true.”

Aleks frowns. “I can still leave.” Brett’s teasing tone of voice is so fucking annoying, but in spite of his complaining, Aleks makes room as Brett settles in next to him. Aleks pretends to look at something on his phone before he braves a peek at Brett, who looks right back at him.

“I’ll just get it out there,” Brett begins, his voice soft. “I’m sorry about earlier. I had a lot on my plate, but I know you were only bugging me because you missed me.” He follows it with a heavy, tired sounding sigh and Aleks immediately regrets his attitude from earlier. Why is Brett even apologizing to him? When the hell did Aleks get so needy?

Suddenly, Aleks feels a strong hand at his shoulder and he’s pulled across the middle cushion and into the solid, familiar weight of Brett. His thick arm slips around Aleks’ waist and it’s embarrassing how quickly Aleks melts into the touch. Brett is so warm, fresh from the shower. He can feel the dampness of his towel still hanging over his shoulder, and Brett smells so clean.

“I’m so fucking tired,” Brett grunts, and his weight is dragging Aleks down with him. Aleks tilts his head back so he can see Brett, laying against the couch arm with his eyes half closed. “I missed you too.”

Aleks has no idea what to say, but he manages to wiggle enough so that he can roll over in Brett’s hold. He lays against Brett’s side and rests his cheek against his ribcage. Brett’s hand is in his hair next, combing through the gel and breaking up the hold of it while they lay there just… looking at each other.  

“It’s okay.” Aleks sounds so tiny when he finally speaks, and he fucking hates it. “I mean, I am kind of a jerk off.”

That earns him a sleepy giggle from Brett, and Aleks knows he has to be exhausted because his eyes fall shut and they don’t open again. Brett keeps touching him, one hand in his hair and the other roaming everywhere else. Aleks soaks in the feeling of Brett’s rough, warm palm against his back and his shoulders, and carefully wraps his arms around Brett’s waist.

After a while, Brett’s hands begin to slow down and soon after that, go still while buried in his hair. Aleks gets to see the worry lines melt away from Brett’s face when he finally gives into sleep. He still looks exhausted, but relaxed for once. Pressing his face against Brett’s arm, Aleks finally closes his eyes as well. Their position on the couch is a bit uncomfortable but Aleks stays where he is.

 

* * *

 

 

In the morning, they both wake up sore.

Brett worms his way out of Aleks’ grip and leaves him there as Aleks tries to work out the kink in his neck. The struggle not to fall back asleep is too real. His head feels fuzzy and achy and he wants so badly to sleep off his hangover. A quick look at his watch tells him it's almost eight o'clock in the morning. Brett might be strong enough for these early starts, but Aleks wishes they could sleep in together, for his sake.

A slow thought comes to him while watching Brett stretch out of the corner of his eye. This was the first time he’d been at Brett’s and they didn’t, to be blunt, touch dicks. Is that normal? Do fuck buddies cuddle and talk about their feelings until they fell asleep in each other’s arms?

Khail’s presumably innocent comments sneak back into into Aleks’ head and he feels his chest tighten while he watches Brett shuffle his way into the kitchen. He’s scratching at his lower back and with the morning light filtering in through the window, Aleks can see Brett’s bed head and curls lit up through the back.

The tightness in his chest doesn’t let up.

Breakfast is eggs, again. Aleks can smell them when he finally joins Brett in the kitchen and takes a seat and watches Brett cook half-naked in front of his stove. He stays quiet, though, so caught up in his own thoughts that it actually startles him a little when Brett clears his throat and sets down two plates in front of him.

“Spinach and tomato frittata,” Brett tells him cheerfully as he sits down. Aleks pulls a face, even though the presentation is actually pretty nice. How Brett has enough brain cells in the morning to pull off stuff like this, Aleks will never understand.

“Do you ever just eat, like, cereal for breakfast? Like a normal person?” Aleks gripes, even as he cuts into his fancy fried egg thing.

“It makes me feel nice knowing that you get to eat something that’s not garbage every once and a while.” Brett winks at him and Aleks feels his cheeks go hot. “What’s your go-to? Captain Crunch?”

“You got a problem with the Captain, dude?”

Brett laughs, but the bickering dies down a little while they both eat their breakfast and Aleks somehow manages to keep his eyes on his food.

Once he’s finished, Brett gets up to put a pot of coffee on. Aleks watches him grab two cups, which triggers that annoying fluttery feeling again, and he quietly decides to scrape up every bit of courage that he has.

“I, u-uh,” he stutters, “I was thinking about the, uh… that thing. That one thing you told me to think about.” Aleks cringes at himself but pushes on. “You know.”

Brett glances over his shoulder, but it’s too quick for Aleks to gauge his expression. “Mhm?”

“I… fuck, dude.” Aleks groans, rubs his face before he forces his clammy hands back down to the table. “You boss me around when we fuck and I dig it. You already know that. I just… when we’re together I don’t have to worry about - messing up or doing the wrong thing. It’s like, I just know that you’re in control and… I like it.” Aleks swallows hard and stares down at the table. “I like being good, for you.”

Finally, Brett turns and sets a mug in front of Aleks before settling back into his chair. His expression is… serious. But soft.

He also doesn’t _say_ anything so Aleks exhales and makes himself keep talking, tries to get out all the jumbled thoughts he’s been having these few weeks. “Where do we go now, dude?” He laughs, a little breathless, hand going to run compulsively through his hair. “What does that make you now? My dom with benefits?”

“Kinda catchy.” Brett shrugs. Aleks definitely wants to hit him just a little and it must show on his face because Brett raises his hands defensively. “Alright, okay, seriously though. If that’s what you wanted, we could go that route.”

While Aleks swallows around the dryness in his throat, he takes a moment to look at Brett. “What about you?” he asks after a pause, forehead wrinkling as he tries to stare Brett down. “What do you get outta all of this? You spend a lot of time asking me what I want, but I don’t even know what you want. Fuck.” Aleks bubbles with laughter as a realization hits him. “Was that your plan all along? Did you seduce me into being your personal boytoy?”

Finally, there’s a break in Brett’s calm demeanor. Aleks sees his shoulders shake before he hears the giggle, but when Aleks hits him with another stare, he has the decency to look sheepish. His expression reminds him of Mishka being caught trying to steal from his plate. “Pretty sure I was the one who got seduced that night, when you kept feeling me up.” Brett pauses, tongue dipping out to swipe across his bottom lip, and Aleks feels kind of nice knowing he’s not the only nervous one right now.

“I wasn’t trying to make you feel weird,” Brett begins, finally meeting Aleks’ eyes. “No offense, but you’re kinda skittish. I didn’t wanna freak you out.” There’s a pause and a sigh. “Yeah, dude, I like bossing you around too. You’re so fucking stupid sometimes, in an annoying but sweet kinda way. When you acted like you didn’t really know what to do with me, it was easy to just take charge. Real easy.”

“Are you making fun of me right now, dude?”

“No. Yeah. A little.” Brett laughs. “You’re cute when you get pissed off.”

Aleks glares at Brett from behind his mug, but that only makes him laugh even more. It takes a few seconds, but finally Aleks cracks a smile too and looks down at his coffee. Knowing they’re on the same page makes Aleks feel a little better.

“So what now? I get a safeword, right?” Aleks asks, scratching at his stubbly chin. “Can I just…” He lifts his arms up, one bent, and starts to duck his head before Brett reaches over to smack his elbow.

“If you fucking dab while we’re having sex, I might actually kill you,” Brett groans, sitting back  and rubbing at his forehead. “That’s not even a word, jackass. We’ll work on it.”

Their serious talk had dissolved into gentle bickering, but Aleks feels… content. A lot better then he had been feeling, for fucking sure.

Eventually, both of their mugs are empty and Aleks begins to worry about his brats back at home. Brett follows him to the door where he catches Aleks in a kiss, his hand firm on his waist, squeezing.

“We’ll pick this back up later,” Brett hums against his lips, a little promise.

 

* * *

 

 

Later turns out to be sometime in the middle of the work week. They talk a lot, Brett weedling details from Aleks over text and sometimes when they have some time alone, between slow kisses in Brett’s office when Aleks is too horny to have any shame.  There’s not time for any of it to actually go anywhere until Friday, when Brett takes him home after work.

Brett drags him straight into his room, tugging Aleks along by the hand. The second the door closes, Brett pulls Aleks in for a soft kiss that makes him ache for more, has him trying to press harder and just earns himself a gentle bite on the bottom lip.

The palm of Brett’s hand is warm on the back of Aleks’ neck when they pull away, just a small gap between their mouths when Brett starts to talk. “You remember what we talked about?”

Aleks can already feel his face flushing as he nods. Brett insisted on laying out the details beforehand and while Aleks doesn’t totally get that, it gave him a lot to think about. Maybe that’s the whole point - another way for Brett to tease him.

Although, through it all, Brett's never picked on Aleks for anything he's wanted. Light teasing, sure, and one conversation Aleks can remember seriously worrying that Brett would laugh in his face about.

_"My thighs, huh? Like the first time?" Brett had probed, and Aleks was so reluctant to correct him._

_"No, uh... Not really like that." Aleks started, taking long enough of a pause that Brett was giving him that 'Come on, Aleksandr' look. "I want you to sit on my face, okay? Like, I can't move, and your thighs are around my head. It'd... be really hot."_

_To his credit, if Brett was shocked by what Aleks was asking for, he didn’t show it at all. He seemed to consider it for a moment and then nodded, like it wasn't even a big deal. "Okay, if anyone’s eating ass that night, I'm gonna have to be able to prep ahead-,"_

_"N-No! Uh, not like that." Aleks interrupted him quickly, hand raised and face burning. "Not right now, at least? Actually, it would be really, uh, cool if you maybe still had your_ _jeans on..."_

Brett starts walking and snaps Aleks out of his daydreaming, leading him towards the bed until the back of his knees meet the edge. Aleks doesn’t resist as he’s shoved down, and he gets a great view of Brett’s body as he climbs up. Straddling his chest, towering over him.

“Hey, up here.” Brett catches his attention by winding a hand through his hair, gently tugging until Aleks sheepishly raises his eyes. Brett’s smile towards him is warm, even though he’s teasing him. “I know you like what you see, but look at me for a sec.” He leans back slightly, reaching around until his free hand meets Aleks’. “Squeeze my hand when you want me to let up. I’ll be watching you, too, like we talked about.” He squeezes Aleks’ hand once. “Good?”

“Yeah.” Aleks is quick to nod, to squeeze Brett’s hand back so they can get on with it already. Before, he thought that Brett talking all the time was annoying. Right now, he just feels anxious, face hot while he watches Brett continue to scoot up the bed. Aleks doesn’t get reprimanded for staring at Brett’s thighs this time, and soon that’s all he can see without looking all the way up.

Brett takes his time straddling his shoulders, obviously careful as his thighs bracket Aleks’ head. He raises his eyes, looking up the line of Brett’s body to see him looking just as intently down at him. Brett grins and moves to lean back on one hand, thighs pressing around Aleks’ head for a second, then easing off.

Aleks is in heaven.

 

“How’s that?” Brett asks, then laughs. “Jeez, you look… Totally gone already, and I haven’t even done anything. Huh.”

“It’s good.” Aleks presses his hot cheek against Brett’s inseam, breathing in slowly. Mostly, all he can smell is the fabric of Brett’s jeans, but there’s Brett’s scent underneath it, so warm this close. Fuck, it’s _good_ . Aleks spent so much time staring at Brett’s thighs, really, way too much time… Now, he can’t see it but they’re so obviously _there_ , Brett’s strong thighs on each side of his head.  The hand tightens in his hair, pushing Aleks’ face harder into muscle and dark denim.

“For someone who’s new to all this, you’re, like, a natural.” Brett’s starting to get into it; Aleks can tell by how low his voice has dropped. “I’m really flattered, though. If I knew you were jerking off to my thighs, I would’ve done _this_ ,” his thighs put gentle pressure around Aleks’ head for emphasis, “a lot sooner. I mean, look how nice and quiet you are now.”

Aleks whines, too fuzzy-headed already to respond properly. Brett lets go of his hair and lets him nose forward, pressing against Brett’s zipper, lifting himself up just a little. And yeah, Aleks may be a pervert, but he can feel Brett hard against the front of his jeans, so it’s not like he’s the only one.

The pressure lets off and Brett tugs him back down.

This time, Brett actually sits on Aleks’ face, and Aleks is so grateful for Brett’s control because even the small amount of weight that Brett lets him feel is overwhelming. For a moment, Aleks can’t even think, can’t hear or focus on anything that isn’t Brett, Brett’s thighs. He gropes around with his free hand, fingers bumping against leather, follows the side of Brett’s boot to the back of his thigh and squeezes-

Brett lifts off him quickly, leaving Aleks groaning. There’s a nervous little laugh above him and Brett soothes Aleks by petting his hair. “Bud, I don’t wanna kill you. Don’t pout.”

Aleks keeps pouting, keeps looking up at Brett and tugging at the back of his thigh.

“Hey, quit it. If you want more, you just gotta ask,” Brett says, swatting at Aleks’ hand until it behaves.

“Please, Brett.”

“You know that’s not gonna be good enough.”

“Brett,” Aleks whines, squeezing his eyes shut. Fingers stroke behind his ear, like he’s some kind of pet. Aleks leans into the touch for more.“Please, do it again.”

“‘Sit on my face again,’” Brett corrects him, gently tugging at Aleks’ hair. “Say it.”

“Fuck, dude,” Aleks groans, squirming around for a moment. As gentle as he is, Brett still has Aleks totally stuck underneath him. He pants, still holding onto Brett’s hand as he fights weakly against him.

He’s totally at Brett’s mercy and he knows how to get out if he wants. But Aleks doesn’t want to get out, definitely doesn’t hate where he’s at, he just wants Brett to _do_ it already.

“Please sit on my fuckin’ face, Brett, come on-,” Aleks cuts off when he finally gets his way; Brett gently lowers himself down and just looks at him, watches Aleks as everything goes floaty again.

Everything is so hot, and Aleks wonders how red his face has gotten already. Brett rocks just a little against him and the denim is so rough on his face, it makes Aleks gasp and pant in the small space he has. Fuck, it’s getting harder to breathe and in that second, Aleks finally starts to panic a little. He pulls at Brett’s hand before he squeezes it, and Brett is off of him in an instant. Aleks falls back against the bed weakly, face flushed, trying to catch his breath.

Aleks can feel Brett moving above him, the weight on the bed shifting and then there’s a hand against his forehead, pushing his hair back. Aleks finally cracks his eyes open and sees Brett leaning over him, looking concerned.

“Dude, you fucking murdered me,” Aleks giggles, turning his head and rubbing at his eye.

“Yeah, I thought so for a sec there.” Brett huffs, and Aleks shoots him a dopey grin. Once he feels solid enough again, Aleks reaches out for Brett and pulls himself closer to seek out affection. With a kiss, they melt into the bed until Brett catches him by the chin, nudges him back.

“Still good to go?” Brett waits for Aleks’ soft confirmation before he kisses him once more and straightens up. A hand keeps Aleks firmly where he is, laid out against the pillows and watching Brett scoot down the bed. He pushes up Aleks’ shirt with his other hand, showing off the curve of it for Brett to pause and kiss. An impatient wiggle gets him to move on, and Brett’s undoing Aleks’ jeans next, pushing them down far enough to slide a hand against him.

Brett palms at him and eases him past the waistband of his underwear. His cock bobs up, twitching at the touch of fingers around the base. Brett’s tongue sweeps over his lower lip and then he’s leaning in, letting his hot breath brush against Aleks, eyes meeting just for a second.

Everything is a tease with Brett. He waits until Aleks groans out a low ‘please’ before he finally feels Brett’s warm mouth sliding over his sensitive tip. His lips wrap around him, sucking until Aleks is trembling, then moves down to meet his fingers at the bottom. Aleks can feel the fingers at his base tugging, holding his foreskin back as Brett’s mouth slid up, tongue rolling against him.

“A-Ah, dude, fuck-,” Aleks arches up, so sensitive already. As if Brett’s mouth wasn’t enough, he starts to stroke him, fingers wet with saliva and Aleks’ stomach is fluttering, so painfully close…

Then, Brett’s fingers squeeze suddenly around him. Aleks chokes out a moan, trembling but not getting anywhere because Brett is a fucking asshole, and is giving Aleks exactly what he asked for. Aleks goes tense and has to make himself relax slowly, and Brett finally releases him. His hand strokes slow up Aleks’ stomach and fuck, that’s way too much, but Aleks forces it back, swallowing tightly while Brett sits back up.

Aleks is pulled in for a deep kiss, Brett still keeping one hand around him, letting Aleks slide against his soft palm. Brett sucks at his tongue before he lets him go, breath hot against his cheek.

“You’ve been so good, I just need you to wait a little longer,” Brett says so sweetly, and Aleks nods quickly. With a little grin, Brett turns from Aleks to dig in his drawer. When he rolls back over, he’s more prepared, bottle in hand and condom set aside for later.

Brett takes care of himself, leaving Aleks to lay still while Brett finally shed his tight jeans. They still look a little damp from where Aleks’ mouth had been pressed against them.

Aleks kicks off his jeans and wiggles out of his shirt while he waits for Brett to finally lay back against him. Brett takes his time, eyes never leaving Aleks’ while Aleks listens to the wet sound of Brett preparing himself.

Aleks’ dick is laying heavy and swollen against his stomach, but he gets totally ignored by Brett until he’s finally ready and climbs back up to settle on top of his hips. His slick hand reaches back to slide the condom over Aleks, and Brett must be feeling it by now too, because he doesn’t make Aleks wait long until he’s in position, lowering down slowly and bottoming out, tight heat around Aleks’ dick.

His  weight keeps Aleks in place, and he must know how Aleks is desperate to move, to finish, but Brett won’t give him an inch until the tension drains out of him again. When Brett finally lifts his hips and falls back down, his mouth drops open to let out a soft noise.

“J-Jeez, you’re staring again.” Brett must be feeling as affected as Aleks is, because he giggles a little as he steadies himself against Aleks’ chest. “Is it that good? Watching me ride your cock?”

“It’s really - it’s amazing… You look amazing,” Aleks pants out, and Brett’s composure breaks. He blinks at him for a moment until shakes his head, and Brett starts rocking onto him harder.

“You trying to give me a big head? Honestly.” Brett’s still smiling as he says it, though, and Aleks has to lean up to meet him for a kiss. Brett’s arms slide around his shoulders and he holds him tight while he rolls his hips in Alek’s lap.

That’s a problem, though. Brett’s too gorgeous, too hot and heavy on top of him. Aleks feels it, and he whines out to warn Brett who hasn’t let up even a little since this started. 

“Don’t you dare,” Brett gasps, bouncing against Aleks in short, quick strokes. “I’m not ready, I-I need you to keep fucking me.” His hand falls to Aleks’ chest, fingers tangling in his chain. “Come on, baby, make me feel good.”

How is that supposed to convince Aleks to not blow his load? He shakes with the effort of it, biting into his lip until it hurts, breaking out into a whine as Brett’s movements start to slow.

“I-I need… I need you to move, fuck me harder.” Aleks obeys, pushing his hips up harder against Brett, who matches his thrusts when he pushes back. Something works out for Aleks, because after getting some better leverage, Brett gasps and falls against him.

  
Aleks almost pauses, but Brett whines and grinds back until Aleks keeps fucking up into him at that same pace, makes Brett moan for him. “Th-that, that’s it, right there. Don’t you dare stop.”

Aleks can’t do anything but stare, watching Brett come undone on top of him.  

“Fuck!” Brett whines, and Aleks can feel it when he comes hot against his stomach. It burns in him, body too sensitive now but Brett keeps riding him, even though Aleks’ head is so dizzy he thinks he could faint.

“It’s okay,” Brett finally pants against his ear, laying a kiss there and moving gently with Aleks. “It’s okay, you can come. Come for me, Aleks.”  

Aleks could cry with relief, can actually feel the sting at his eyes when he finally lets go. Brett holds him, sitting up slowly as he keeps rocking against Aleks until he’s whimpering from sensitivity.  
  
Everything after that is a blur. Aleks can feel Brett taking care of him, getting rid of the condom and easing Aleks down to the mattress. Aleks reaches out when he feels Brett slide back into bed with him, slotting himself under Brett’s arm and into his side. The both of them are definitely too hot and sticky for the humid ass night, but Aleks just presses closer.

Brett is silent for so long afterwards that Aleks almost falls asleep, but he does speak up eventually.

“Everything what you wanted?” Brett asks quietly, and Aleks looks up at him with half-lidded eyes, pausing and then smiling.

“Yeah,” Aleks admits softly, resting his cheek on Brett’s chest and letting his eyes fall shut. “Definitely got at least one off my bucket list, so, thanks.”

“Go the fuck to sleep,” Brett giggles, shoving him but letting Aleks right back in. 

  


* * *

 

 

Editing is not Aleks’ favorite, especially not this late at night when he could be doing anything more interesting. Streaming, drinking, fucking. They were all pretty good choices. Still, Aleks was struggling to put together a video, going through hours of his own footage that suddenly felt so boring and rough to slough through.

“I’m gonna start vlogging, I said,” Aleks mutters to Celia, who is curled up on some important shit on his desk. “How come you didn’t stop me, huh?” Aleks nudges her with his mouse, getting a lazy flick of tail in return. “Yeah, thanks for fucking… nothing.”

Turning away from his desk, Aleks rubs at his eyes before going to his SD card from today. Brett was willing enough to record a little with him today, which was kinda nice. None of that footage was supposed to go in right away, but Aleks starts sifting through it anyway, taking a break from his annoying ass project.

He’s mostly skimming, stopping at some points that he remembers were good, finding others that definitely aren’t. So he almost misses it entirely, going by too quickly, but it sticks out to him. A spot in his footage Aleks doesn’t remember recording. He goes back to the beginning and squints at the frame. That’s… him?

His fingers hesitate over the keyboard, but Aleks finally hits play and Brett’s voice comes through his headphones as he watches himself shopping around.

“This is Brett Hundley here, executive producer and co-owner delegated to the common duty of cameraman.” Brett sounds totally exasperated, and the camera zooms in on the back of Aleks’ head. “Just so Aleks can go inside this store and look at shoes. We’re gonna go back and film a haul after this, I think. Give the video a big thumbs up if you wanna see our one thousand dollar Adidas haul.”

Aleks laughs into his palm, face hot as he’s subjected to Brett’s roast from hours ago. Still, he lets the footage go on. The camera suddenly moves, and Aleks gets to see Brett’s fed up looking face. Brett’s gotten so much scruffier these past view months, but Aleks likes it.

“Are you even gonna notice this later? I hope you just put it in your dumb vlog. I really hope so.” Brett looks off into the distance and pauses, giving a little smile. Aleks gets to see himself again, bending over to do… something. Fuck.

Brett whistles from behind the camera and zooms in and out rapidly, and Aleks has to look away. He’s trying to compose himself as Brett keeps ragging on him in the video.

“Nice, gotta get those fanservice bucks in. I’m a really, really good cameraman.” Aleks hears the camera shuffling again, and he peeks out to see Brett’s face, just… kind of smiling at the camera. Smiling at him.

“Okay, I really thought he’d be done by now. This bit’s way too long. I guess that’s the kinda stuff we do for love, right folks?” Brett sighs, and Aleks feels his heart stop in his chest, slams his hand into the keyboard to stop the video.

Did he hear that right?

Aleks leans his mouth into his hand, nervously rewinding the video. Aleks hits play and doesn’t make it past the same phrase again, getting up from his desk and walking away. Behind him, the video plays out into whatever Aleks had filmed next, but Aleks isn’t thinking about that.

_For love._

Mishka whimpers anxiously at the way Aleks is pacing back and forth, his hands in his hair as he definitely doesn’t have a huge panic attack about what’s probably nothing at all.

Was Brett just kidding? A joke, maybe? Fuck, they have been seeing each other for a while now. As friends, though. They were supposed to be friends.

Is Brett really in love with him?

  



End file.
